


Bats in the New World

by dragonwriter88



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, One Piece
Genre: BAMF Red Hood, BAMF Robin, Corruption, Crossover, Heroes & Heroines, Humor, Injured Dick Grayson, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Luffy Being Luffy, Marines, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Pirates, Transponder Snails, batfamily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:30:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwriter88/pseuds/dragonwriter88
Summary: An accident sends Nightwing into a strange new world. Back home, his family will do anything to bring him back. Unfortnately only Red Hood and Robin can go retrieve their brother. Once they go through the door to the other world they have to deal with corrupt marines, crazy pirates, and all of the dangers of the Grand Line. How will two Gotham heroes deal with the Straw Hat Pirates?





	1. Chapter 1- Little Lost Bird

**Author's Note:**

> So, hi. Instead of working on my other stories, I got distracted and wrote this instead. Jason and Damien are a little OCC but I tried to stay in character for the most part. I can only hope that people enjoy it as much as I did writing it. See you around.

Chapter 1-Little Lost Bird

 

It took two days for anyone to realize he had disappeared, three before anyone worried and four days had passed before anyone called Bruce Wayne to tell him that his ward, Dick Grayson, was missing. From there it took four hours before Batman was standing in front of the small warehouse owned by the small research and development company ODA Worlds. By looking at Dick Grayson’s notes and search history and tracing his steps before his disappearance, Batman discovered Dick’s suspicions that some of the researchers on ODA’s payroll were working under the table on special projects like the one housed here. Nightwing had left to investigate this warehouse and that was the last anyone saw of him.

Batman scanned the area but the entire block was quiet. He was not optimistic about what he would find beyond the worn wooden doors.

“Robin, say outside and keep watch while I investigate,” he ordered gruffly. He knew his son was as anxious about finding Dick as he was, but he didn’t need Robin distracting him, especially if he found the worst case scenario inside. Robin’s affirmative was sharp, but at least he agreed.

Inside, the warehouse was not as run down as the outside led one to believe, obviously camouflage for the advanced lab hidden inside. Generators on every wall explained why there were no spikes in the electric usage to track, though they all appeared fried now. One on Batman’s left looked melted; the one on the right had a large dent, probably from a fight. More evidence of a skirmish was everywhere. Tables full of sensitive equipment were overturned and trampled, Nightwing’s batarangs (not that he called them that, but they came from Batman’s original design) were lodged in the walls and one of the overturned tables. Dick had been here, and he had fought someone, make that a lot of someones. The enemies had been armed; the bullet holes attested to that but they had been reckless and/or untrained. There was too much damage for them to have been competent. Coming to these conclusions as he scanned the shadows for an ambush, Batman breathed a sigh of relief and regret when he saw he was alone. He turned his attention to the focal point of the room. It was the largest piece of equipment in the large, open room. It stood about seven feet tall, three feet wide and looked just like a door covered in wires. It stood in isolation, hanging slightly ajar. Moving carefully, Batman approached the thing. Before the open space around the door, the bank of computers that was connected to the wires on the door still stood. One on the far left was still on, flickering with a screen saver of brightly colored fish.

Batman tapped the keyboard to see what he could find out. The fish vanished, revealing a live feed of the room. Luckily the security cameras were on a different circuit that whatever blew the rest of the electronics in the lab. Batman quickly pulled up the recording from four days ago. Outside, Robin was getting antsy, but Batman ordered him silent and steeled himself to watch the fate of his adopted son.

 

VIDEO:

A man in a lab coat was adjusting the wires on the door while another man operated the computer bank, rolling his chair from one computer to another to report different readings. Four hefty, armored men, mercenaries by their stance and weapons, stood guard. Two covered the door and the other two stood along the left and right walls. The first scientist stepped away from the device, satisfied by his work. He sat next to the other man and they started a count down. The video had no sound but the assistant held up fingers to count down the last five. Something sparked and the door, which had been closed, opened on its own.

A smoke bomb was forced through the entrance, obscuring the cameras for several seconds. Flashes showed bursts of gun fire and a baterang embedded itself in one of the computers which did something to the generators. By the time the smoke cleared, the door-device was fully open and emitting a strange blue light. In the middle of the room, Nightwing grappled with one of the guards before throwing him into the generator in the right wall and knocked another man out with his eskrima clubs. The other two guards were already unconscious on the floor, though one of them was starting to stir. Nightwing approached the scientist and his assistant, his hands held out peacefully. The assistant ran from the hero and tripped on some of the wires between the computers and the open door. He landed hard, knocking himself out. The scientist and Nightwing ran to him but started to scuffle in front of the door. Nightwing clearly was trying not to hurt the man and pushed him away, but the scientist tripped and fell back against the door. The the strange light started to suck him in and when Nightwing reached out to grab him, they were both pulled through. There was a flash of light and they had vanished, the light was gone and all of the equipment except for the cameras and the computer were dead. The last activity was the hired mercenaries fleeing with the limp assistant and “I’m not paid enough for this shit” expressions on their faces.

END VIDEO

 

Batman relayed the relevant parts of the video to Robin with a heavy heart and fierce determination. Robin was understandably outraged, but Batman ignored his ranting as he called for backup. He would need to help getting Dick back.


	2. Chapter 2- Preperations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a bunch of chapters at once, because I'm impatient and bored. Plus the chapters are a little shorter than usual, so I feel guilty leaving you with so little. Anyway, enjoy.

A little help from the Justice League had all of the relevant equipment moved and set up in the Batcave before dawn. Batman was confident that he could get Dick back quickly, considering the resources he had at his disposal.

The ODA project had been to create a doorway to another world and while they obviously succeeded, the original attempt was unstable and dangerous. However, with a little tinkering and the addition of technology only the Justice League had access to, Batman and co. had a more stable portal working in less than 48 hours. With the League’s support, Batman was ready to rescue Dick. The plan was for Batman, Superman and Flash to pass through the door as soon as Batman had 8 straight hours of rest (Alfred’s orders). Superman and Flash had claimed seniority to join Batman after the call for help almost started a war. It seemed like almost every hero in the league had wanted to help Nightwing.   

Batman chaffed at the enforced rest, but he saw the wisdom in it. He had been awake for over three days straight and he needed to be fresh to face whatever was on the other side of that door. After a bowl of Alfred’s soup, he laid down in the corner of the Batcave and despite his intention to run through the plan in his mind, he was instantly asleep.

 

Emergency alarms rang through the cave, bringing Batman to instant readiness. He ran to where the crowd of heroes was grouped around his computer.

When Oracle appeared on the screen, her computerized voice frantic, she had no good news to share. “This is bad, very bad. There are portals opening all over the world.”

“Portals to where?” Batman demanded, taking charge naturally. “Is this related to Nightwing’s disappearance?”

“No,” Oracle insisted quickly. “The readings that everyone is sending to me show no similarities to the door Nightwing went through. Wonder Woman thinks they are portals to Tartarus.”

“Wait,” Red Hood said from where he had been leaning against the wall. He had been very helpful over the last few days, even if he insisted on complaining at every opportunity to hide how worried he was. “Are you saying that someone actually opened up portals to hell?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Oracle said. “And things are coming out. We need full Justice League response.”

Robin shoved his way past the adults and pointed angrily at Oracle’s screen. “What about Nightwing?” he shouted. “Are we just supposed to leave him until we deal with this crisis?”

No one had an answer for that. Batman clenched his fists.

“I’ll go alone,” he spoke up. He pointed at Superman and Flash who were just standing there with guilty looks. “You two, get out there. I’ll take care of this.”

“Batman,” Superman said softly, making Batman want to hit him for all the good it would do. “I know how you feel. But you can’t go alone and we need you. Please.”

Batman turned to his team, his Robins. Tim Drake was sitting at the computer, focused on helping Oracle track down the source of the portals. Jason Todd was watching him with narrowed, accusing eyes. Damian, his youngest, his son, glared with all the force of his considerable personality at all of them. The only missing piece was Dick, the oldest. Bruce couldn’t leave him alone in a foreign world, against who knows what. Dick had always been lucky, but part of that was just being prepared like Batman had taught him. He hadn’t been prepared for this and Bruce wouldn’t abandon him.

Batman turned to say no to Superman, forcing the issue, when Jason spoke up again.

“Let us get him,” Red Hood said in to the heavy silence. “You need Batman, but against a threat like this, how much help are we going to be? Let us go rescue the golden boy.”

Damian latched on that idea with both hands, his small smile feral. “Yes, Todd and I will go find Grayson. Drake can monitor us from here.”

Superman frowned, clearly not liking the idea of sending a child, even one like Robin, into an unknown world. Batman didn’t like it either, but it was a good compromise. He trusted them because he knew them, trained them. They had proved before to be an unstoppable team, if they could keep from fighting each other. For Dick’s sake, he knew they would control themselves.

“Fine,” Batman agreed. “Take the packs we put together last night and anything else you need. Red Robin will keep me informed and he can continue to assist Oracle from here. Get what you need. You have fifteen minutes.”

Hood and Robin exchanged a look and took off running to get what they wanted. They knew what was already in the three packs sitting before the door because they had helped pack them, which meant they also knew what was missing. They would repack the three into two that were better suited their strengths and abilities.

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” Flash asked, speaking up for the first time. “Are they ready for this?”

“No,” Batman said. “But we are out of options. We can’t abandon Nightwing and we don’t know if these portals will affect the door so we can’t wait.” He glared at Superman. “And you were right, you will need me.”

Superman nodded, not happy with the situation but willing to concede the point. “Fine. Oracle, tell me where to go,” he said and flew out without looking back. Flash shrugged, saluted with two fingers and sped off without a word, leaving the bats alone to plan.

“I will assist Master Timothy however I can,” Alfred said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He was holding a tray with sandwiches. Batman glared at the sandwiches but when Alfred just raised an elegant eyebrow, he gave in and took one.  Alfred nodded approvingly before taking the tray over to Red Robin to force him to eat as well.

Red Hood and Robin were back before Batman finished his sandwich. Hood grabbed two sandwiches while Robin set to repacking with a will. Soon he had a pile of discards and two smaller packs ready.

“We don’t need all this stuff,” the 10 year old said dismissively. “It will only slow us down.” He was right. Most of the equipment was backup and contingencies for the two powered heroes. Robin and Hood were more prepared to make do with they found on the other side. It wasn’t like they would need a lead lined suit or solar generators, even if they could carry them.

Batman nodded and went to lead Red Robin in turning on the door while Hood and Robin shouldered on their packs and settled themselves. Alfred forced the last sandwich into Robin’s hands with a stern look. Damian crammed it into his mouth with a glare that lost a lot of its heat from his poofed out cheeks.

The door opened, showing a steadier blue light than the first time.

“Good luck,” Alfred said with a nod.

Batman just nodded stoically, wishing he could go with them. He cursed whoever was responsible for making him choose between his son and his mission.

“Bring him back,” Tim said brightly, trying to keep a positive attitude.

“Don’t worry, Replacement,” Hood said dismissively as he checked his guns one more time. “We’ll bring the golden boy home safe.”

Damien growled. “Enough of this, let’s go!”

At Batman’s nod, the two young heroes stepped up to the door and crossed the threshold.

They disappeared from sight instantly, but this time the light from the door didn’t disappear.

“Well?” Alfred asked.

“They’re through and all systems are normal,” Red Robin said, sliding from one end of the massive computer bank to the other. “Communication is down, but we expected that. Now we just have to wait.”

Batman stared at the door for a minute before turning away resolutely. “Give me directions to the nearest portal,” he ordered as he leaped behind the wheel of the Batmobile before he drove off into the hell-fire filled night.

 


	3. Chapter 3- Welcome to the Grand Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter in a row. Christmas in May.   
> Our heroes are finally on the Grand Line, so what will they do?

Red Hood and Robin fell in a heap as they passed through the door. Robin pushed away from his partner and hurled into the sand, retching until he lost everything in his stomach. Red Hood didn’t feel much better but he fought the roiling in his stomach until he could control it.

“Better?” Hood asked sarcastically.

Robin snarled at him, but it was weak as he was still dry heaving.

Hood laughed and stood to get a better look around. “Well, Dickie-bird’s luck is true to form,” he muttered. “Look at this beach, feel that sun. It’s a tropical paradise.”

Robin finally stood up and kicked sand over his mess. “Let’s find him and get home. Batman needs us.”

“Demon-spawn want to fight his kin?” Hood teased.

Robin ignored the jibe and started to walk along the beach, looking for clues. Hood smirked and followed the younger boy. They had walked in silence for half an hour when they saw the town. It was up on a rock ledge above the beach and they could barely make out the masts of sailing ships.

“Looks like a port town,” Robin said, coming to a stop. He looked over at Hood. Todd didn’t have his helmet on but he did have his mask. Robin considered his own clothes. He wondered how their appearance would looks to the beings in that town. “We need to get a closer look. See if they’re human, and what they’re wearing.”

Hood nodded. “Lead the way, ninja-brat.”

Robin gritted his teeth but didn’t respond, instead moving to the vegetation along the edge of the beach so they could fade into shadows. They were both used to the city, but the tall jungle trees would have to suffice.

The trees were bigger than either of them expected, and with their grapples it was easy to disappear into the canopy and approach the town from the air. They traversed the interlocking branches as easily as rooftops and while neither would admit it, they were having fun. When they reached the end of the trees they stopped, finding perches where they could get a good look at the locals.

Below their tree a beaten dirt road wound between the huge trees of the jungle and passed through a wooden arch into the town. The arch declared in faded red letters that the town was named “Bombshell Cove”. From what they could see, the people looked human and normal enough. It was obviously a technologically backward world since there didn’t seem to be electricity or cars. People or animals pulled carts full of their wares. Robin saw one man pulling a cart full of clay pots and another pushing a wheelbarrow full of cabbages.

“I think we’re good to walk around down there if we take off our masks,” Hood said, thoughtfully. “Most of those people are wearing odd clothes. Without masks, I bet we can blend in so we can start asking questions.”   
“Agreed,” Robin said. He pulled his mask off and held it in his hands, considering it for a long moment. “Do we stick with code names?” he asked.

Hood considered the question as he peeled off his own mask, stuffing it into his pocket. “Let’s play it by ear, but it’s not like anyone here is going to know who Jason Todd or Damian Wayne are.”

Robin nodded and moved to start climbing down. Hood followed.

 

They walked through the town, discretely asking after Nightwing with no success. They had been at it for a couple hours when Hood called for a break.

“I’m going in there for a drink,” he said, pointing at a disreputable looking pub. It was called the Drowned Duck and the sign was of a creepy looking duck with x’s for eyes laying on its back.  “Coming?”

“How are you going to pay?” Robin hissed as he followed reluctantly through the swinging doors. “We don’t have any of the local currency.”

Hood grinned and held up a cloth wallet. “Picked this up earlier, someone must have dropped it,” he lied smoothly.

Robin scowled. “Thief,” he snarled quietly as they sat at the bar.

“Like I care,” Hood said. “Whatever you got,” he ordered from the man behind the bar before turning back to his partner. “B isn’t here to lecture me and it’s easier to get information if we have money. It’s not like we packed gold along with us and I don’t think they’ll take your credit card.”

The barkeep came back with a tankard of something that smelled like rum.  “Anything for the kid?” he asked. “I got juice.”

“Sure,” Hood said easily, taking a swig of his drink. “Good stuff.”

“Thanks,” the man said as put a glass of orange colored juice in front of Robin. “We make it here, best on the Grand Line.”

Hood took another drink, sizing the man up. He looked honest enough, for a dirty barkeep. “I bet you know everything that happens around here,” Hood said bluntly. He didn’t feel up to subtly at the moment, it had been a long day. Robin glared at him, suspiciously.

“Sure do,” the keep said, pulling out a towel to start wiping down the bar. “No one gossips like pirates, and they all come through here. Well, maybe Marines are worse but they all go to the Seagull and Mary and I are old friends so we talk.”

“We’re looking for our brother,” Hood said, leaning forward. “He came here about a week ago and we can’t seem to track him down.”

“What’s he look like?”

“Tall, black hair, dressed in blue and black. He’s real tough, a fighter,” Hood said, giving the description that he and Robin had pared down to the essentials over the course of the day.

The barkeep leaned back and glanced around the room. Hood followed his gaze. There were only three other people in the bar, a woman in the corner, her face hid by the shadows, a drunk slouched over a table, and an older man with an eye patch who was playing cards with himself. None of them appeared to pay them any attention.

“Listen, boys,” the keep said quietly. “I know who you mean, but you should be careful. There was a man, about a week ago that showed up. Really nice guy, helped out around town to make some money. Well, he got into a fight with a Marine captain, a corrupt bastard named Captain Joudan. The Captain was pushing around a couple of local girls and the guy steps in and tells him to back off. Joudan scoffs and throws a punch, and corrupt he might be but he’s no light weight. So he’s surprised when the guy dodges and springs back. That pisses the captain off so he orders his men to arrest your brother. It took a score of them to finally take him down and they were all sporting lumps, I’ll tell you. Captain Joudan held him in the local jail for four days before getting permission to take him to the nearest marine base. They left yesterday, and I didn’t see him but I heard your brother wasn’t looking too good.”

Hood and Robin listened with rapt attention but when he finished, Hood just let his head fall and thump against the bar. “Arrested? Mr. Perfect got arrested,” he groaned. “Now what? How are we going to spring Dickie Bird if we can’t even find him!”

“Where is this marine base?” Robin asked, his eyes flashing dangerously.

The barkeeper didn’t seem intimidated by the pint-sized hero.  “Don’t know for sure, a couple islands away I think. You’d need an eternal pose to catch up and you won’t find one around here. The marines won’t let anyone sell them,” the keep answered with a shrug.

“We need a ship,” Hood groaned without lifting his head. “I don’t know how to sail. Do you?”

“No, but how hard can it be?” Robin said dismissively. “What we need is a way to track Grayson so we’re not sailing all over the place.”

“I like you boys,” the keep said, leaning over the bar and lowering his voice conspiratorially, “so I’m going to help you how I can. What you need is a vivre card. That’ll let you track straight after your brother. Do you have anything like hair or nail clippings of his?”

Hood couldn’t help it. He laughed, an honest belly laugh that left him gasping for air and holding his sides. “We do, we actually do,” he said when he caught his breath. “We brought DNA samples in case none of our tech worked, which it doesn’t. Damn, I am not living this down. Bat was right to make me get that crap from Dickie-bird’s apartment.”

“Perfect,” the keeper said, honestly happy for them. “Now, go to the apothecary by the docks, tell Nisha that Noonan sent you. She’ll help you out. I don’t know about a ship though. You’ll need to hire someone and only a pirate will go after a marine vessel, so be careful.  But I wish you the best of luck.” With that, he turned away and left the boys to finish their drinks and follow his advice.

Outside, after a quick conference, they agreed to do as Noonan said. They set off toward the docks, though it was starting to get late and the sun was starting to set. It wasn’t like they were worried about being mugged. Hood actually hoped that someone would try. Then they could steal some more money.

They had only just reached the docks, and were searching for Nisha’s apothecary when Robin noticed they were being followed. He hissed at Hood, “We’ve got a tail.”

Hood didn’t bother to look, trusting his partner. “Who is it? Someone else got a problem with Dick?”

“No,” Robin said, pulling Hood between some parked carts to try and hide. “I think it’s that lady from the bar, the one who was in the corner. She’s wearing the same clothes.”

Hood pulled out his gun and checked the magazine. Non-lethals, Batman would be proud. “It’s rude to keep a lady waiting. Let’s find out what she wants.”

With only a look they split, Robin going high, Hood going low, skirting the carts to hopefully come out behind their tail. However, when he came back out on the street, the woman had vanished. He kept his gun up as he looked around.

“Careful where you aim your weapon,” a woman’s voice whispered. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Red Hood spun around and pointed his gun at the woman. She stood calmly in the middle of the road, arms crossed over her chest as she looked him up and down. She was pretty, he noted absently. She had long black hair and wise eyes. She was spilling out of her tight shirt in all the ways a man could appreciate and her loose skirt had a slit in it that allowed him to relish her long legs. Hood swallowed, wondering where Robin was.

“It’s not me you should be worrying about, sister,” he growled at her. “Why are you following us?”

She smiled at him, her expression mischievous. “I want to help. I heard the story you told Noonan.”

Robin dropped down behind her but she didn’t flinch when he spoke, only turning slightly to keep them both in sight. “What is it to you, lady?” Robin demanded.

“You will need a ship, a fast ship, to catch a marine warship. You need allies who don’t care about picking a fight with marines,” she said softly. “I know someone who might be willing to lend you a hand.”

Hood reluctantly put his gun away. “Why would you help us?” he asked suspiciously.

“I have no love for marines and my captain takes things like brotherhood very seriously. He would consider this a great adventure.”

“What’s in it for you?” Robin said.

“I just told you,” the woman said. “Adventure for my captain. He mentioned he was bored this morning.”

Hood looked over at Robin. Neither of them were the trusting sort, that was always Dick’s thing, but they had to admit they needed help if they wanted him back. If this woman was willing to help, fine, they would take it. It wasn’t like they had a lot of options, or time.

“Fine,” Robin said, speaking for both of them. “We’ll get the vivre card the bartender told us about and then we’ll  meet with your captain.”

The woman smiled. “Wonderful. Meet me at the cove on the other side of town. Our ship is anchored there. You can’t miss it.” She laughed and started to walk way. Hood rushed forward, meaning to ask her name, but when he turned the corner she was gone.

“She gives me the willies,” he admitted to Robin as they went back to looking for the apothecary.

“What choice do we have?” Robin griped. “This whole place is weird. We need to rescue Grayson so we can go home.”

“Agreed.”


	4. Chapter 4- Mad House of Pirates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am humbled and proud at the same time, which is kind of weird. I started this story as a playground when I didn't feel like working on my other stories, almost all of which aren't done. Then I posted it because I was bored, so I was not expecting the feed back I've gotten. It's only three comments, but it means so much to me. Thank you for the comments, kudos, and bookmarks.   
> Anyway, here is where the fun starts. How will the bat-boys deal with Luffy?

 

The old lady at the apothecary took the fingernail clippings and kicked them out, telling them to be back in the morning. She was a tough old lady that Hood liked immediately; especially after she threatened to make him stay so she could feed him up right. So, with an exchanged look and a shrug the two heroes headed toward the cove the mystery lady told them about. It was a respectable walk, so it took a while and the sun was just a memory before they reached the edge of town. They passed the time idly speculating about what the pirate captain would look like.

“I bet he’s a fat geezer,” Robin offered. “He’ll be so jaded that he picks a fight with anyone to stay amused.”

“I bet he has an eye patch,” Hood laughed. “And talks with lots of ‘arrghs’.”

“My money is on the hook hand,” Robin said, trying to hide a smile.

“Like Peter Pan’s Hook?” Hood said, musing it over. “Sure, I could see that. If he likes adventure so much, I bet he has lots of scars.”

“He’d have to be tough,” Robin agreed. “I bet he’s really strong, like Bane. I heard some of stuff people were talking about in town. It sounds like this Grand Line is a dangerous place.”

“I heard that to. Did you see the row of bounty posters on the wall at the bar? All of them look like crazy guys. They’d fit right in at Arkham.”

They came around a bend and got their first look at the pirate ship. Honestly they would never have called the flamboyant boat a pirate ship at all if it weren’t for the proud skull and crossbones on the flag and main sail. What was with that yellow hat?  “Okay,” Hood whispered, “I’ll admit that was not what I was expecting.”

Robin nodded, staring at the ship with his mouth open.

“Do you like our ship?” the woman asked from beside them. Neither hero would ever admit that she startled them. “She’s call the Thousand Sunny,” she continued like she hadn’t just appeared from thin air.

“She’s, uh, unique?” Hood offered. He was trying to figure out if the figure head was a flower or a lion. The whole thing looked garish.

“It looks dumb,” Robin said testily. “Can that thing really catch up with the marines?”

The woman laughed behind her hand. “Yes, it can.” She started walking down the beach toward where there was a small gathering around a big bonfire. “Come, meet the captain.”

The boys shrugged and followed her. They approached a colorful group lounging around a bonfire, eating barbecue which smelled heavenly.

“Captain, these are the boys I was telling you about,” the woman said, moving to sit next to a scary looking man with green hair, a scar over his eye and three katana. He wore an open green robe that revealed a horrendous scar across his chest that looked several years old, and a Japanese haramaki or belly band.

“I win,” Hood whispered to Robin when he saw the scarred over eye.

“No you haven’t, he’s not wearing a patch,” Robin hissed back.

Hood shrugged and stepped into the fire light and addressed the man. “I’m Red Hood and this is Robin. Your friend said you could help us retrieve our brother from the marines?”

The green haired man glared at him, making Hood wonder what he had said, but then the man turned to the skinny looking kid sitting cross-legged on the ground at his feet. The kid had his mouth full of meat, his cheeks bulging with every new bite. “He’s talking to you, Luffy,” the man growled. “Stop eating and answer him.”

The boy swallowed and they could see the lump disappear down his throat. Hood wondered how he didn’t choke. The kid didn’t look like a pirate captain. He had messy black hair and a cheerful face with a small scar under his left eye. His red vest was closed over his chest, probably due to the cool sea breeze, with a bright yellow sash holding up worn blue shorts. He looked more like a delinquent high school student than a pirate. “Yosh, I got some questions,” he said, trying to sound serious. He reached behind himself to pull a straw-hat up onto his head, hiding his eyes. It was a pretty dramatic move and Hood could feel the rest of the circle still to listen to their exchange.

“Seriously?” Robin snapped before Hood could stop him. “He’s the captain? He looks like a wimp!”

The kid, Luffy, stared at Robin from under the brim of his hat for a long moment, building the tension. Then the bubble broke and he fell backward laughing with his legs kicking in the air. The green haired man bristled at Robin’s words and put a hand on his swords. Around the fire, the other members of the crew also looked combative. The mysterious woman just grinned though. Hood thought that was the scariest reaction.

“I like you,” Luffy said when he calmed down. He wiped tears from his eyes. “Have a seat and some meat. Sanji, more meat!”

The blond who was manning the barbecue waved a hand at the captain. “Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on. You’re lucky I found all this on sale or Nami’d have your head.”

Appeased for the second, the young captain looked at his guests. “Okay. Questions: first your brother. Why was he arrested?”

Hood shrugged as he sat in the sand, trying to pick a position where he could still get at his guns. “Sounds like Golden boy tried to be chivalrous and poked his nose where he shouldn’t. He’s not the type to leave injustices unanswered.”

“Good, good,” Luffy nodded sagely. The red head across the fire snickered into her hand. “Next question, are you related by blood?”

“What do you care?” Robin demanded, angrily. “Are you going to help us or not? We can’t be wasting time!”

“No,” Hood answered, his anger quieter than Robin’s but no less apparent. “None of us are related. We have other ties that keep us bound whether we like it or not.” Personally, he had some issues that would probably never be truly resolved about those ties.

Luffy’s grin shone like the sun. “Awesome! My brothers aren’t related to me either.” Apparently the pirate captain didn’t care about the batfamily drama. He leaned forward, suddenly serious again. “Are you heroes?”

“What?” Robin snapped, throwing up his arms in frustration. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“He’s wearing a cape and you have cool names,” Luffy said, grinning literally from ear to ear. “So, are you heroes?”

“Yes,” Hood said, staring Luffy in the eye. He decided to humor the strange captain. Maybe it would end this weird interrogation. “We even carry masks.”

Luffy whooped excitedly before sticking his finger in Hood’s face. “That’s so cool. But I’m a pirate, okay? So don’t expect me to share my meat with you.”

“Um, okay?” Hood said, confused. He batted the finger away. “So are you going to help us?”

“Of course. We’ll kick their ass! No one takes anyone’s brothers while I’m around!” Luffy jumped up and shouted, showering sand on Hood and the green haired man.

“Knock it off!” the man growled, knocking the captain in the head with a sheathed katana. Luffy didn’t seem to feel it. “Welcome to the Strawhats,” the swordsman said to Hood and Robin. “Hope you survive the experience. I’m Zoro. You met Robin,” he gestured at the creepy woman. “Over there is Nami, Ussop, and the bastard with the freaky eyebrow is shit-cook.”

“What did you say, marimo?” the blond shouted. He stomped over to kick Zoro in the head. Zoro tsked at the attack and just moved to the other side of the fire with his bottle of something. The cook sniffed in disdain before offering Hood and Robin some of the barbeque. He was a tall man and he looked taller in his tailored pants and blue dress shirt, though his sleeves were rolled up so he could man the cooking fires. His hair was a bright blond and he did have a weird eyebrow which swirled. Hood couldn’t tell about his other eyebrow because his hair fell over his right eye. “I’m Sanji,” he explained as Hood dug into his food. The meat was as delicious as it smelled. “Enjoy the food.”

“I’m vegetarian, peasant,” Robin snarled, batting away the food.

Sanji caught the meat before it hit the ground. “Don’t waste food, short stack,” the cook said coldly. Behind him Luffy declared that he’d eat Robin’s share of the meat. Sanji rolled his eyes but tossed the meat to his captain, who ate it in midair and spat out the skewer. “Wait here,” he ordered Robin. In less than a minute he was back with a handful of skewers of grilled vegetables. “Don’t waste food around me, but I won’t let anyone go hungry, not even a shitty brat like you. Eat up.” Without another word, he returned to his cooking. Robin was pleasantly surprised at the taste of the vegetables and quickly ate as much as he could.

The red haired woman came over to sit next to Hood. She wore a tight blue jacket that just barely covered her bright bikini top. Her jeans were skin tight and on her hip, Hood noticed three short staffs that were probably her weapons. She was very pretty too, with long orange-red hair and a cheerful smile. She had more of a girl-next-door look than the mysterious Robin. “Hello, there. Like Zoro said, I’m Nami. Chopper and Franky are on the ship. Brook is over there,” she pointed at a really lean looking man just outside the fire light, strumming on an oddly shaped guitar. It was hard to make him out, but he looked almost skeletal, he was so pale and thin. “And I don’t know where Jimbe wandered off to.”

“Tch,” Robin sniffed haughtily. “Small crew, you have here. Are you sure you can help us get Nightwing back?” He glared around at the circle of pirates. Oddly enough, none of them looked insulted, a couple even looked amused.

“We might not look it, but we’re a pretty infamous pirate crew,” Nami promised. “We have had our share of entanglements. Don’t worry, one warship is barely a challenge for these muscleheads.”  
“Your words are music to my ears, Nami-swan,” Sanji said. He danced over and went to one knee, holding out a shish-ka-bob of cubed meats and vegetables cut into hearts. “Let this be a token of my unending love.”

Nami sighed and accepted the skewer, leaving Sanji to skip over to Robin (the pirate, not the hero) and make the same declaration. This got Luffy’s attention and Sanji had to return to the barbeque to keep his gluttonous captain happy.

Hood shook his head in disbelief. He’d see a lot of strange things in his life, but these pirates were throwing him for a loop. He wasn’t sure how to react to their antics. “I guess I should thank you for your help,” he admitted, though it came out gruffer than he intended.

“Yo ho ho ho,” a spooky voice said from behind them. “We’ll save your brother, cross my heart. But I don’t have a heart! Yo ho ho ho.”

Hood turned around and squealed like girl because he was staring death in the face. A tall skeleton was bending over to talk to them, his ghastly skull grinning at them as his laugh echoed through his lipless mouth. Hood backed up until he could feel the bonfire at his back and had his gun up and trained on the monster before anyone could react. He didn’t know what his rubber bullets would do to a living skeleton, but he would not go down without a fight. The part of his mind that wasn’t terrified wondered why no one else was frightened.

Nami stood up and smacked the skeleton upside the head. “Brook, knock it off. You scared the poor man. Apologize right now!” she scolded harshly.

The skeleton bowed low. “My deepest apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you and I understand how you feel. I forget that I am a skeleton sometimes and I scare myself when I look in a mirror. Yo ho ho ho”

“Wha…how?” Hood gasped. He looked over at Robin who was snickering behind his hand, the little creep. Hood stood up and dusted himself off, trying to regain his dignity. Interestingly enough, none of the pirates had laughed at him, not even the care-free Luffy.

“I ate the revive-revive fruit and came back to life after I died,” Brook explained. “But I got lost in the fog and by the time I found my body, I was reduced to this.” He waved a boney hand over his body. Now that Hood had calmed down, he took the chance to actually look at the skeleton. Brook towered over them; he must have been over seven feet tall including his impressive pitch black afro. He wore a mix-match of bright colored clothes topped by a feather boa. His black top hat even had a crown on it. Actually, he wasn’t scary at all. He looked kind of festive, if bizarre.

“Good thing that didn’t happen to you, Hood,” Robin snarked.

Hood glared at him but Brook’s attention was caught. “You too have been revived?” he asked innocently, his head cocked to the side.

Hood bit back the bile that rose at the question. “Yes, but it wasn’t my choice. I’ve had a lot of things to deal with.”

“I understand, my friend,” Brook said taking a seat. “We’ll have to swap stories some time. I’ve learned that letting it out can have a great healing effect.”

“Whatever,” Hood brushed him off, not wanting to deal with this right now. He still had a lot of bitterness from his death and resurrection, as well as all the drama afterwards. “What will be the plan tomorrow? We have to catch the marines and they have a two day head start.”

Nami waved a hand, making her bracelets chime musically. “Don’t worry about it. I’m the best navigator on the Grand Line; I’ll get us there in no time.”

Robin (the pirate) turned a kind smile on the two heroes. Robin (Damian) had returned to glaring banefully at the others but the dark haired woman appeared unaffected by his hostility. “The marine ship had one other port to visit before returning to base. Since we will be heading straight for them, our journey will pass much quicker.”

“Yosh!” Luffy crowed. “As captain I have decided that we leave first thing in the morning to rescue our new friends’ brother. The Thousand Sunny is the best ship in the New World. We’ll catch up to those dumb marines and kick their butts.” He had stood up and struck a pose that was probably supposed to look heroic, but it just looked kind of awkward and funny, though the look on his face was very intent. “In the meantime, we need to build up our strength for the battle. Sanji, more meat!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sanji said, rolling his eyes. “Let the ladies have seconds first, you shitty rubberman. Learn some damn manners.”

Nami smacked the back of Luffy’s head. “We already decided that, you moron,” she reproached, sounding exasperated. “You agreed as soon as Robin told us the story.”

“Do what you want,” Zoro said from the edge of the firelight. “I’m going to get some shut eye to be ready for tomorrow. The rest of you better do the same.”

“Um, Mr. Hood and Mr. Robin?” the guy who hadn’t spoken yet said. He had a ridiculous long nose and a bushy ponytail covered by a floppy hat. “We have some extra bed rolls if you want to sleep on the beach with us, tonight?” He sounded really uncertain and scared as he asked. He held out two rolls of blankets as far from his body as he could get. When Robin glared and snatched the rolls from him, the man (probably named Ussop) squeaked and scurried away to hide behind Zoro.

Robin rolled his eyes contemptuously. “We’ll sleep over there,” he declared, shoving one bedroll at Red Hood. “Stay away from us until dawn unless you want to lose your head.”

Hood rubbed a hand over his face. When did he become the level headed one? “What he means to say is ‘Good night and thank you for the food and for your promise of assistance.’” He put a hand on Damian’s head and forced him into a quick bow, though he was probably risking his hand to do that. Surprisingly, Damian just tched and mumbled, “What he said.”

“Good night, young heroes,” Robin said smoothly. “Hopefully you won’t be eaten by a beast before morning.”

“Robin, that’s terrifying,” Ussop complained.

“Night!” Luffy waved excitedly, but his new friends couldn’t hold his attention while Sanji was still cooking.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Nami called to them.

“Yohohoho! Sweet dreams, new friends,” Brook sang out. Soon the apparition was softly singing a song about sake that drifted over the small cove, blending with the sound of the waves.

Retreating into the night, the Bat-brothers found a place away from the fire and high above the tideline where they could bed down and talk privately, shedding their vigilante personas for the time being.

“What do you think?” Jason said, laying back to study the stars. They were beautiful but nothing like the ones visible from Earth.

“I think they are all insane,” Damian groused. He was sitting crossed legged on his bedroll, his sword across his knees. “I don’t like trusting them with Grayson’s life.”

Jason sighed heavily. “It’s not like we have a choice.” He rolled over to look at Damian, but the kid was staring resolutely into space. “We can’t rescue Golden Boy on our own, not across an ocean. And no one else seemed eager to help.”

“I agree,” Damian said, nodding to himself. “We don’t have a choice, Todd. The mission comes first, and if we have to rely on these ruffians to get it done, so be it. I still don’t like it though.”

“You said that already, demon-spawn,” Jason pointed out. He laid back and gazed at the alien stars. “I wonder what B and the others would have done.”

“Kent would have flown after the ship, retrieved Grayson and been back for dinner,” Damien scoffed. “Assuming the muscle bound fool had figured out where Grayson had been taken.”

“B would have been with them, remember?” Jason argued, his old insecurities rising again. “They probably wouldn’t have to rely on pirates.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Damian declared, shoving his sword into the sand. “They aren’t here and we are so we make do with what we have. Now shut up and go to sleep, Todd.”

Jason smiled to himself, but didn’t let the younger boy see it. “Fine, you too, Damian.  A boy your age needs a full night’s sleep so he can grow big and strong.”

“Tch,” Damian scoffed. But after a minute, Jason could hear him getting into his bedroll and falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5- Unfortunate Paralles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your great input. I'm an so amazed at the feed back for this story, especially when I remember thinking that it wasn't good enough to post. I hope that I continue to meet and maybe even exceed your expectations. You are all so awesome!
> 
> So time to meet the rest of the crew. I'm excited to try writing Jimbe for the first time. He's so awesome, but kind of hard for me to get a read on, so I hope I've done him justice. Of course, Franky and Chopper are important to. I mean, Chopper is no BatCow, but he's pretty awesome and adorable. Anyway, enjoy.

The next morning, Damian was woken up by the feeling of something large looming over him. He was alert in an instant and in the space of a breath he rolled out of the blankets and unsheathed his katana.   
“Whoa, hey, little bro,” an impossibly large man-like thing said. It backed off and held up its large colorful robotic hands. Small yellow hands sprouted out of its palms and waved at him to calm down. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.” The thing took a step toward Hood, his attention entirely on the sword-wielding ten-year-old.  
The talking and the shifting sand woke up Jason, who rolled out of his blankets with the same speed as Damian, but he didn’t hold back when he pulled his weapon. He put two shots into the thing’s chest.  
“Hey, that wasn’t nice,” the thing said, unaffected by the rubber bullets. “I just came to get you for breakfast.”  
Jason, awake enough now to understand what was happening groaned loudly. “You’re one of the pirates aren’t you?” he asked, coming out of his defensive stance.  
“Yeah, that’s me,” the thing said. He clanged his blocky forearms over his head and posed dramatically. “Su-Per, I’m Cyborg Franky, shipwright of the Straw-hat Pirates. Oh, yeah!” he shouted.   
From down the beach, they could hear Sanji shout. “Stop messing around over there and get back here, you shitty cyborg.”  
Looking at the man standing before them, Franky certainly looked like cyborg with his box-shaped robotic forearms and massive round shoulders. Hood couldn’t decide the man’s strangest feature. There were too many to choose from. He had electric blue hair styled into a pompadour, a metal nose, a three cleft chin, and strange surgical scars all over his chest and legs. However it was the open Hawaiian shirt and bikini shorts that really made Hood pause.   
“Come on, bros,” Franky urged, ignoring their stares. He reached down to grab Hood’s bedroll and shake out the sand. “Sanji-bro gets real testy when someone is late for breakfast.” He grinned at them and nudged up his triangular shades. “Besides, if we don’t hurry, Luffy-bro’ll eat it all.” He grabbed the second bed roll, shook it out and started down the beach, leaving Hood and Robin to gather their things and follow him.  
“And so it begins,” Hood said, glancing at Robin. “Dickie-bird owes us big for this one. Dealing with this lot is above and beyond the call of duty.”  
Robin sniffed dismissively, but didn’t argue. 

After their introduction to Franky, Hood was apprehensive about the other two members they hadn’t met last night. It seemed like every pirate they met was weirder than the last. Red Hood was Gotham born and raised; trained by the Batman; had died and been resurrected. He had fought against and alongside some of the craziest things in the universe but these pirates kept throwing him off his game. He actually struggled to keep his cool as they followed Franky back to the Straw-hat’s fire.  
Turns out he was both right and wrong to be worried. Yes, the last two pirates were as weird as he expected but neither was as startling as Franky, at least not to Hood. Jimbe was a huge blue man with tusk like teeth and a Japanese topknot. He wore a colorful kimono that showed the gills on his neck and the sun tattoo on his chest. Despite appearances he was very friendly, and Hood quickly decided that he quite liked the man. Jimbe nervously explained that he was a whale shark fishman, which explained his size and coloring. He was worried about Hood’s reaction, since apparently fishmen are not always welcomed by humans.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Hood said in a low voice, which wouldn’t carry to the rest. “We’ve seen weirder and in our line of work we usually outgrow any prejudice or squeamishness about other species.” He jerked his head at Franky, who was building something with Usopp. “He weirds me out more than you do.”  
“And what about your friend?” Jimbe asked politely.  
“Robin thinks he’s above all that,” Hood laughed. “He wouldn’t care if you were from the moon.”  
“You honor me, Hood-san,” Jimbe said before returning his focus to his food.   
The last pirate was the biggest surprise. Chopper was the cutest thing, a little plush toy with big eyes, antlers and a big pink and blue hat. Robin was infatuated with the little doctor immediately and claimed him as a pet, though he was at least tactful about it. Nami explained that Chopper was a reindeer who ate the Human Human fruit, which gave him human characteristics like speech and intelligence. The little guy seemed a little scared of Hood so he tended to hide when Hood looked his way, though Chopper always hid the wrong way, leaving most of his body exposed as he hid his face. Red Hood couldn’t see how a small animal like Chopper could keep up with such a crazy crew at first, but his question was answered when Ussop tried to steal off the reindeer’s plate. Chopper grabbed his plate from Ussop and transformed into a gorilla man with a big ruff of fur around his neck, pulling the plate out of Ussop’s reach. After scolding his friend, Chopper moved to the other side of the fire and shrank back to his smaller form. Robin trailed behind him, asking questions and trying with all his might to seem uninterested in the answers. Chopper seemed pleased to have a receptive audience.  
Breakfast with the Straw-hats was as hectic as one would expect. Other than the women, and surprisingly, Jimbe, all of the pirates had atrocious table manners. The captain, Luffy turned out to have rubber powers that allowed him to stretch and shrug off brunt attacks. Hood and Robin quickly learned to protect their food from Luffy’s questing fingers that could attack from any angle. The other pirates were very practiced in this and would smack Luffy’s hands away without interrupting their conversation or eating. Sanji danced around refilling people’s plates and cups and kicking Luffy in the head for stealing from the ladies. Franky guzzled gallons of cola and burped dramatically to the applause of Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper. Brook was particularly disgusting to watch, since he didn’t have lips to chew with his mouth closed or keep the food in his mouth. He also burped and farted without remorse.   
Jason thought they were hilarious, though he hid his amusement, preferring to keep a stoic demeanor. He could almost hear Alfred’s voice lecturing about proper manners like the old man did when Jason was a boy that Bruce had picked up off the streets. Robin, from his seat across the fire, glared at everyone except Chopper. He was obviously not amused by the lowbrow behavior. Hood snorted and focused on his own plate, just in time to catch Luffy’s hand trying to steal a smoked sausage.

After breakfast, the two heroes went with Nami to get their vivre card. The redhead cat-burglar apparently didn’t trust their bartering abilities and invited herself along to get them a better deal. Hood wasn’t sure why she cared, but he didn’t argue. Chopper came to, though Hood wasn’t sure if it was willingly or Robin forced him to. The kid was definitely attached to the little reindeer-man, and hadn’t threatened anyone with bodily harm since they met.  
“Here it is,” Hood said once they finally got to the apothecary. He held the door for the odd group, not really sure they would all fit in the tiny shop.  
Chopper looked around with stars in his eyes. “Oh, this is amazing. These are all well preserved,” he said as he looked at racks of drying herbs. “Nami, can I buy some. This is fever-wort and these are night-berries. They work wonderfully as an anesthetic, much better and safer than chloroform.” He ran over to where bundles of herbs hung from the rafters. “Oh, Nami, I have to get some of this bloodherb. I’ve only read about it but if I brew this in a tea it supposed to help with blood loss.”  
Nami sighed. “Of course, Chopper. You can get whatever you need, just let me do the bargaining okay?” When Chopper nodded happily, she turned to Hood, who was watching with a grin. “He’d buy this place out if he could, but we have a budget for a reason. I can’t say no to him though, because he’s wonderful at patching us all up after a battle.”  
Hood thought of Dr. Leslie, who had put him together a few times when he was a boy. “You have to keep your doctor happy,” he commented.   
Nami hummed in agreement and went to ring the bell on the counter. Immediately, Nisha, the old woman Hood and Robin met yesterday appeared from behind the curtain in the back.   
“Nisha sees that you boys have returned?” she said, though it sounded like a question.  
“Yes, ma’am,” Hood said as he stepped forward. “We came for the vivre card you promised would be ready this morning.”  
“Yes, Nisha remembers,” the old woman said, waving a hand gnarled by age in front of the young man’s face. “Nisha remembers much, but Nisha does not remember them. Who be they?”  
“They’re friends, ma’am,” Hood explained, leaning back so the old lady didn’t poke his eye out. “Their captain promised to help us. This is Nami and Dr. Chopper.”  
“I don’t care if you call me doctor, you jerk,” Chopper mumbled cheerfully, dancing in place and blushing under his fur. “It doesn’t make me happy.”  
Robin rolled his eyes, but he was smiling which was a big deal for him. “Do you have the paper, or not lady?”  
“Tsh, Nisha is no lady, but Nisha did finish your vivre card.” She reached under the counter and pulled out an envelope with a blank piece of paper inside. “Now watch Nisha.” She grabbed a pair of huge scissors and cut off a square portion from the corner before returning the rest of the paper to the envelope. She placed the corner on the counter. They all crowded around to see. After a second, the paper moved a little to the right. “See, that is where your lost one is. Follow the card and it will guide you.”  
Robin took the square carefully, holding it in his hand so he could watch the movement. Hood took the envelope with the rest of the card. “Thank you, Nisha.”  
“Nisha wishes you boys luck,” the old woman said, leaning forward over the counter. She reached up to lay a hand on Hood’s cheek. “You be careful, child,” she said quietly. “The Grand Line is a dangerous place, especially here in the New World. Do not underestimate it, nor the men and women who sail it.”  
“I won’t,” Hood promised.  
Nisha smiled and patted his cheek before turning to Nami and Chopper. “So, Nisha see that you hold the purse strings and you desire herbs. Tell Nisha what you want and Nisha tell you if you can afford it.”  
Hood moved toward the door, leaving Nami and Chopper to barter with the old healer. Robin followed him, still holding the card.  
“We’ll get him back,” Hood said quietly.   
“I know,” Robin snapped defensively. “We have to.” He looked down at the card again. He cried out, nearly dropping it before he restrained himself. “What’s happening to it?” he said, hurrying to the front.  
The paper was smoldering on one end, though it was not burning and it was only slightly smaller than before. He waved it under Nisha’s nose. “What did you do?”  
“Nisha did what she said, making a vivre card,” Nisha said, calmly. “The card represents the person’s life force. The more of it that burns, the more danger the person is of losing their life. Your friend is hurt. Nisha thinks you should hurry.”  
Robin looked at the smoldering paper in horror. “Richard,” he murmured under his breath, then looked up at Nami. “We leave now!” he ordered. “Finish your business and return to your ship at once.” He turned on his heel and stalked out of the shop, his shoulders tight.  
Hood sighed. “Thank you Nisha,” he said again. “Nami, I better go after him so he doesn’t pick a fight with anyone. We’ll meet you back at the ship okay?”  
“Is he going to be okay?” Chopper asked, his eyes swimming with worry.   
“He’s just worried about Nightwing,” Hood admitted. “Personally, I’m not too worried about him. Bastard’s luck is legendary. The guy can fall into a latrine and come out with a handful of gold.” He looked to where Robin had disappeared. “Still, we shouldn’t waste time.”  
“Got it,” Nami said. “We’ll be right behind you.” She turned back to the old woman. “Now, old lady, how much for these magical herbs Chopper wants?”  
Hood nodded gratefully and hurried after the younger sidekick. He probably wouldn’t catch up unless Robin got into trouble, the kid was fast and determined. Still, he was itching to leave as much as Robin was, so he ran up a wall and flipped himself onto the roof so he could avoid the morning crowds. In the distance, he could see Robin’s cape fluttering in the wind. With a groan, he took off across the rooftops after Robin. It seemed like he was doomed to always be chasing after Waynes.

Back at the Straw-hat’s ship, the rest of the pirates were preparing to get underway. Ussop was climbing the rigging, checking all the ropes and sails. Franky was below, stocking up with cola for the engines. Robin focused her efforts on securing any loose items in the cabins in preparation of a probable Coo-de-Burst. Sanji danced around in the kitchen, putting away supplies and cleaning up from breakfast. Zoro trained in the crowsnest while he kept watch for the return of the ones who left for the apothecary. Jimbe was loading everything they had lugged onto the beach the day before. Brook sat under the tree on deck, drinking a peaceful cup of tea. Last of all, Luffy sat on his special seat on the figurehead. He had a disturbingly (to those who knew him) thoughtful look on his face. He was the first to see Robin and Red Hood racing across the beach toward them.   
“Hey!” Luffy called out cheerfully. “Where’s Nami and Chopper?”  
Hood waved but didn’t answer until he reached the ladder to the deck; they had tied it to a rock outcropping so it was angled out over the gentle surf of the cove, which enabled the Straw-hats to get to land without getting their feet wet. By the time Hood had reached the ladder, Robin was already on board and glowering at him for being so slow. Leaving the older hero to finish climbing on board, Robin turned to answer Luffy.  
“They are on their way, I came ahead to make sure you were ready. We need to leave immediately,” he ordered.  
Luffy’s eyes narrowed, though his grin didn’t diminish. “Remember, I’m the captain here,” he warned merrily. “We’ll leave when I say. What’s the rush?”  
Robin pulled out the slip of paper from his utility belt. “The old woman from the shop said Grayson was in danger,” the boy said, his tone dangerous. “We can’t delay while you joke around. He needs our help.”  
Luffy snatched the vivre card out of Robin’s hand and laid it in his palm. He watched the smoldering paper inch across his hand with a strange look on his face. “Of course,” he said finally. “We’ll leave as soon as Nami and Chopper are on board.” He gave Robin back the paper and walked off.  
Red Hood came up next to Robin. He carefully laid a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “Luffy already promised to help,” he said gently. “We’ll get him before anything happens. He probably just got hurt from trying to escape. The people who took him are marines, government. They won’t do anything to really hurt him.”  
Robin huffed and walked away without acknowledging Jason or his words. Hood couldn’t blame him. Honestly, he didn’t believe it either. They were from Gotham; they knew how corrupt authority could get.  
Nico Robin came up behind him, startling him. “Don’t doubt the captain,” she said softly, looking up at where Luffy was again perched on his special seat. “He understands your pain better than you can imagine.”  
Hood shrugged. “I’m not worried, not really. We can only do our best, after all. We’ll get there in time or we won’t.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been on the other end of the wait, though, and I don’t want to waste time. But Robin, he doesn’t know how to worry so he lashes out. He’s scared for our big brother and he can’t process that. So don’t hold that against him either.”  
The dark haired woman looked out over the beach and leaned over the railing. “We understand. None of us where there when Luffy needed us when he lost his brother and we all regret that.” She turned to smile at him. “Helping you is therapeutic in a way. Luffy couldn’t save his brother, Ace, from the marines, but if we can save your brother, maybe, that will help us all heal, just a little.”  
“I hope so, lady,” Hood admitted.   
“Here comes Nami and Chopper,” Zoro called out from above. In the distance, Hood could just make out Nami riding a fully reindeer Chopper.   
“How many forms does he have?” he asked in disbelief. He also couldn’t believe how fast they were moving. Chopper was pretty amazing.  
Nicco Robin laughed politely into her hand before turning to finish preparations. The chase was on.


	6. Chapter 6- The chase is on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now to finally rescue Nightwing, well almost. Don't worry, we'll get there. Now the Gotham boys need to get better acquainted with the Straw Hats. Enjoy!

Damian Wayne sat on top of the Thousand Sunny’s crow’s-nest, looking out over the blue water to the horizon. He knew that somewhere beyond that horizon, Grayson was injured, alone, and probably convinced that there was no one to rescue him. Why would he? He had been in this strange world for days without contact before he was arrested. He might have felt abandoned. Damian fought to keep the rage in his chest under control. He focused on his breathing, remembering his lessons both from his mother and his father. He listened to the wind and the waves. Below him he could hear the swordsman, Roronoa Zoro training. The man had been swinging ridiculously large weights around when Damian had retreated up here and he was still at it. The rhythmic clanking was actually soothing. Once he felt under control again, Damian returned to thinking about Grayson. He couldn’t help it, like poking at a loose tooth.

He was worried about his older brother. He was scared that they would be too late. Both emotions were weaknesses that he thought were trained away by his mother. Yet here they were, irritating him again. His father had explained that emotions were only a weakness if they are allowed to control one’s actions. Never attack in anger, never freeze in fear, never move rashly in worry. That is what Batman believed, though how well he follows his own preaching is debatable. Emotions are healthy important parts of being human. That is what Grayson taught him and Damien appreciated the jovial man’s attempts to “cheer up the baby bat” as much as they rankled. Grayson never dismissed Damien’s feelings and had a way of seeing what Damien was really feeling under the anger and annoyance he projected. The boy gazed out over the waves. Out there, somewhere, Grayson was waiting for them to rescue him. They would not fail.

Beneath him, the clanking stopped. “Oi,” Zoro called out the window. “You should come down soon. It’s almost lunch time.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he snapped. He hooked a grapple to the edge of the roof and leapt off, passing the swordsman with a whoosh. Zoro looked surprised for a second before he noticed the line attached to the youth’s utility belt. Robin cackled all the way down until he hit the deck with a muffled thud. The long nosed sniper, Ussop, squealed in surprise from where he was tending his plants with the other Robin. The woman laughed politely behind her hand before turning back to her watering. Robin rolled his eyes at the pair and made his way to the helm where the fishman and navigator were talking with Red Hood.

“According to the charts I picked up on the last island,” Nami was saying, “we should be crossing their path by tomorrow unless something slowed them down at their last stop.”

“We caught a good current,” Jimbe said with a nod. “We are making excellent time.”

“Is the weather going to hold out?” Red Hood asked. He was fingering his sidearm, which was a nervous habit of his.

Nami stared up at the clouds. “It will for today, but I’m not sure about tomorrow. The Grand Line is nearly unpredictable.”

“What does that mean for Greyson?” Robin asked as he joined the discussion.

“We’ll catch up to the marine ship tomorrow,” Nami said. “We should decide on a plan of action.”

Hood nodded. “Isn’t your captain in charge of strategy?” he asked.

“Have you met Luffy?” Nami inquired. She shook her head and sighed. “No, we just point him at the strongest fighter and let him take care of that while we handle the details.”

Jimbe laughed. “He is a most exciting captain to follow.”

Hood shrugged, apparently accepting the whole idea, which seemed ludicrous to Robin. “How can you follow a leader like that?” the younger hero barked.

Nami smiled. “He’s an idiot but he’s our idiot captain so we follow him. We don’t need any other reason.”

Robin glared at the woman before shifting his attention to the fishman. Jimbe had seemed like a rational individual and Robin hoped that he would have better insight into this ridiculous situation. Grayson was relying on them!

“Luffy-san is a special case. We trust him to fight and he trusts us to deal with the things he cannot. It is a worthy partnership,” the whale shark fishman explained as best he could.

Nami nodded vehemently, her hair bobbing around her head. “Now then,” she said, regaining control of the situation. “We still need a plan.”

“And a name,” Jimbe added.

Nami rolled her eyes and was about to argue with her nakama when Sanji stepped out of the dining room to call everyone to lunch.

“Yippee!” Luffy shouted, popping out of the hold like a rocket. He raced across the deck right into Sanji’s foot. The blond cook glared at the captain and with a deft twist, had the smaller man pinned under one shiny dress shoe.

“You stay put until the ladies are seated, you shitty rubber-man,” Sanji ordered as he pulled out a cigarette. He lit it quickly and blew a puff of smoke into the ocean breeze. “Laaadies!” he called, his tone completely changed.

Nami unbent enough to give the cook a smile which made the man dance like a noodle while still keeping the whining captain pinned.

“We’ll talk after we eat,” Nami told the young heroes who had watched the action with amazement. She didn’t acknowledge their surprise, just walking calmly into the dining room followed closely by the rest of the crew.

“You better hurry,” Sanji called out to Hood and Robin, who had not followed Nami and Jimbe. “When I let him up, it’ll be a fight to get your share.”

The two young men shared a look before racing, with dignity, to join the pirates at the table. As they claimed their seats, Sanji released Luffy who hurled himself at the table, barely avoiding crashing into it. After that it was a race for everyone to eat their fill before Luffy inhaled everything. Damien got into a tug of war with Ussop over the bean sprouts while Nami gracefully took her fill from the bowl.  Hood, who unfortunately ended up beside the gluttonous captain, spent the whole meal hunched over his plate to defend from roaming fingers. However, despite the stress on their guests, the Straw-hats were in a fine mood. They ate and joked with the same joyful energy they put into most of their activities. It was a very different scene from the formal dinners or quiet meals that occurred in the Wayne household.

Finally, once all the food was consumed and Sanji, with the forced assistance of Zoro, started cleaning up, Nami stood up to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay, everyone,” the red head barked. She glared at Ussop until he put down a gadget he was playing with. “We will catch up with the Marines tomorrow morning. We need to come up with a plan.” She held up a hand when Luffy opened his mouth. “I know that we can handle the Marines in our sleep, but this is a warship full of soldiers and we have an objective. We need to find and rescue our target without endangering him. That means that Luffy can’t just fling himself over there and have at it. And no cutting the ship,” she snapped at Zoro who was turning away from his drying duty to say something.

“We need a distraction,” Ussop pointed out. “Otherwise the marines could hurt the boys’ brother before we get there.”

“I suggest three teams,” Jimbe added. “A distraction team, a retrieval team, and a team here on the Sunny.”

Nami nodded encouragement. She looked around for anyone else to say anything before she picked up the thread. “I agree. Luffy, I think you and Zoro should be the distraction. You two have the highest bounties and will easily get their attention.” Zoro smirked at Sanji who bristled at the implied insult, but Nami continued before they could start fighting. “Sanji, I want you on the retrieval team. You’re the muscle. Chopper, you should be on that team as well. We don’t know what shape Grayson will be in.”

“Oh, yeah!” Franky burst out in enthusiasm. He struck a pose, bonking Luffy on the back of his head with his oversized forearms. “What about me, Navigator Nami?”

“Perhaps you should stay on the ship,” Nico Robin spoke up, putting the man in his place without raising her voice. “In case we need to make a run for it.”

“Then I will stay aboard as well,” Jimbe added. “If Franky-san will control the mechanical aspects of the ship, I can steer her into waters where the marines cannot follow.”

“I’ll stay aboard as well,” Ussop declared. “To defend the Sunny.”

“No,” Nami said, her grin growing mischievous as she pinned the sniper with her eyes. “You will pilot the Shark Sub for the retrieval team. I will stay on the ship to watch the weather and protect the ship.” She laid her hand on her climatact that never left her belt.

“What about us?” Hood broke in when Ussop started to sputter over his assignment.

Nami tipped her head in consideration. “Maybe you should stay on the ship to. We don’t know how you will handle the marines.”

Robin stood up and slammed his hands on the table hard enough to rattle the glasses. “No way are we staying out of the way while you rescue our brother!” he shouted.

“Be reasonable,” Ussop pleaded. “The Marines are no joke. It’s dangerous!”

Hood stood up to add his part to the argument, his hand on his gun. He opened his mouth to argue that they were heroes from Gotham, that they had plenty of experience with danger, but someone else spoke up first and everyone fell silent to listen.

“Robin will join the retrieval team,” Luffy said calmly. His hat was tipped down to hide his eyes and his words held more steel than usual. “Red Hood will help Zoro and me keep the marines busy. If we see the Captain who beat up your brother, you get first crack at him.” His gaze bore into Hood, making the hero agree with a dark glee. “Good.” There was silence for a minute as Luffy sat back, tipping his hat back up and grinning at his crew. “This is going to be fun.”

“Yo ho ho ho!” Brook laughed. “Luffy-san, where should I be assigned?” The skeleton whipped out his sword to swish through the air a few times until Ussop complained. “I can be most distracting!”

“Yosh!” Luffy cheered. “You can join us!” The rubberman jumped up and started dancing with Brook to the song “Dis-trac-tion! Dis-trac-tion!”

Robin raised her hand, a gentle smile gracing her mouth. “I’ll assist the retrieval team. I think I’ll be the most use with them.”

Nami sank into her chair bonelessly. “Thank you, Robin,” she said with a weary smile. “At least someone is taking this seriously.” On the other side of the table, Chopper and Ussop had jointed the conga line.

Recognizing the saner members of the crew, Damien changed seats to sit next to the women. “What can you tell me about Marine Warships?” he asked. “It would be more efficient if we knew where to look.”

Nami nodded. “Let’s go to the library. We have a couple books that have the blueprints from different ships that should help. Let’s leave these idiots.”

 

Hood watched the women leave with Damien. The demon-spawn needed to stop going by Robin for a while because the confusion between him and the archeologist was giving Hood a headache. The kid probably wouldn’t agree to that though. He was pretty attached to the handed down moniker.

“Can you fight?” Zoro said, surprising Hood enough to jump and spill his drink.

Red Hood glared at the swordsman, whose perpetual scowl didn’t change in the least. Hood took a drink before answering. “Yeah, I can fight. Been doing it long enough.”

Zoro studied him for a minute before plopping in a chair and taking a swig from a bottle that he must have stolen from Sanji. He held out the bottle to Hood who accepted. The bottle had no markings and smelled very strongly of alcohol. He took a swig and about choked at the burn of the sake. That got a grin from the swordsman who accepted the bottle back.

“I’ve been training most of my life to fight,” Hood said when he could breathe again. That was some strong sake and Zoro was chugging it like water. “Don’t worry about me.”

The green haired man shrugged. “Wasn’t worried,” he corrected with a wave of his hand. “Mostly curious. I know you’re not as strong as me, but I can tell you’re skilled.”

“How can you tell?” Hood asked. He narrowed his eyes and causally reached for his gun. He had to keep reminding himself that these people were pirates and dangerous, so the weight in his holster was comforting.

“Oh, oh, I know,” Luffy interrupted, draping himself over Zoro’s back to give Hood an unnaturally large, toothy smile. “It’s haki, right? I know because I got the feeling too. You and the bird boy, you’re really strong even if you’re not strong strong.”

Zoro let his head fall forward in exasperation as he reach back to knock his captain over the head. “Idiot, how can he be strong if he’s not strong.”

“Shishishi,” Luffy giggled but didn’t answer the question. “Can you be scary? Zoro and Brook can be scary, but I’m not real good at it.”

Hood felt the corners of his mouth pull up involuntarily. He blamed Luffy’s boundless energy and the up-coming fight. “Oh, don’t worry. I can be very scary. I learned from the best.”

Luffy laughed loudly, right into Zoro’s ear. The swordsman shoved the boy off and stood up, draining the last of his sake. “I’m going to take a nap before my watch,” he announced before leaving.

Sanji grabbed the bottle that Zoro left and cursed the swordsman for raiding his stores again. Luffy just laughed from the floor where he had landed when Zoro pushed him off.

“Oh, no!” Chopper cried, scuttling to Luffy and grabbing his wrist to check the rubberman’s pulse. “Are you okay?!”

“He’s fine, Chopper,” Sanji insisted. He had to step over both the doctor and the captain to get back to his kitchen.

The pirates dispersed to their various chores and hobbies soon after the swordsman’s departure. Ussop and Franky disappeared into the bowels of the ship to prepare the Shark Sub, Brook went to enjoy his tea under the tree, Sanji disappeared into the storage room to plan dinner, and Chopper went to check his inventory for the third time. He was murmuring about making tinctures and extracts as he made his way out the door. That left Hood alone with Monkey D. Luffy.

Jason Todd studied the other man, a term he used loosely. Luffy looked like a kid even though he said he was 19. Jason still couldn’t believe the man was the captain of this motley crew. With his short stature and wiry physique, he didn’t look very strong, especially when compared to powerhouses like Zoro or Franky. He certainly wasn’t smart like Robin or Nami, as evidenced by his attempts to eat the lock off the fridge. Yet all these people followed him with surprising devotion. The idea was baffling. Jason leaned back to stare at the ceiling, contemplating the paradox. When he thought about it he could think of similarities between Luffy and the heroes he knew back home. His unending optimism for one, and his appetite was certainly reminiscent of a speedster.

“We’ll rescue him,” Luffy said out of the blue. Jason looked around to see the pirate staring at him with surprising gravity.

“Huh?” Jason questioned. He raised an eyebrow and gave his best “What the hell are you talking about?” look.

“Your brother, we’ll rescue him, so don’t worry,” Luffy answered.

Jason considered arguing that he wasn’t worried, that he didn’t care about Dick; but something in Luffy’s expression made him reconsider. “I know,” he admitted finally. When Luffy didn’t drop his expectant look, Jason continued. “I’m more worried about finding him, and what state he’ll be in.” Luffy nodded, flopping his hair. “It’s not that I haven’t seen people messed up, we’re crime fighters; it happens. It’s just,” he paused, “he’s the oldest. He shouldn’t need a rescue and it makes my skin crawl.”

“When I,” Luffy’s voice cracked and he started over, “when I tried to rescue Ace, he was mad that I came for him but I couldn’t not go. That’s family, you just do what you need to.”

“Funny thing is, not too long ago I was trying to kill him,” Jason admitted with a forced chuckle. It hurt his throat and he had to take a drink. “I was going through some stuff, because, you know, I died. But no matter how angry I was at him, he still loved me.”  
Luffy’s mouth stretched in one of his trademark grins. “I know how that feels, Sabo died but we met him again at Dresarosa. I was so happy to see him I couldn’t stop crying, until I had to rescue Trafal-guy and kick Doflamingo’s ass.”

Jason knew there was a story there, but he decided not to ask. Luffy’s stories were either completely incomprehensible or impossible. “Thanks for the talk, Luffy,” he said instead, getting up. He’d go see if Franky had any extra weapons he could use. He was really looking forward to kicking some ass.

“Anytime, Hoody,” Luffy said, waving happily as Jason reached for the door.

The hero knocked his head on the door frame. “Don’t call me that,” he pleaded. He turned his head to look at the grinning pirate. “How about you call me Jason?”

If he hadn’t seen it, Jason would have said that it was impossible for Luffy’s smile to grow any bigger, but it did. “Yosh, Jason it is.”

“Thank you,” Jason said as he opened the door to step out on deck. Behind him he heard “Bye, Hoody!” and he groaned loudly.

“Sorry for that,” Sanji said from where he was leaning against the wall, smoking. “He gets stuck on weird nicknames, sometimes.”

“Better than bird-boy,” Jason admitted. He waved at the cook as he walked away with a surprisingly lighter heart then he had started with. Maybe he was starting to understand why Luffy was the captain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a little worried about my characterizations here. Let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7- Mission: Rescue Dickiebird!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first half of the rescue mission. Finally some action. Can't have a story without action, right? Enjoy!
> 
> Special thanks to everyone who commented, left kudos, or bookmarked. I'm really glad people are enjoying this little gem.

The rest of the Jason’s and Damien’s first day on the Thousand Sunny was surprisingly calm, or at least as calm as any day with the Straw Hat Pirates. Franky and Ussop had only one explosion. Chopper had only one panic attack because of said explosion. Luffy was kicked into the water only once for stealing the steaks that Sanji was trying to marinate. Zoro took a nap until he had to fish his captain out of the ocean, then trained before taking another nap. Brook sang, Nami drew, Jimbe steered, and Robin read. Over all, it was a very peaceful day.  
Dinner was as boisterous as normal, but now that they had a few meals under their belts, the two vigilantes held their own against Luffy’s wandering fingers. Then after dinner everyone expect for Zoro, who was on first watch, went to bed early in preparation for the upcoming battle. The pirates were in high spirits, looking forward to the fight. They had utmost confidence in their abilities. The Gothamites, however, were worried. Jason checked and rechecked his weapons and ammunition, trying to burn off his nervous energy. Damien spent hours staring at the tiny square of smoldering paper, watching it inch across his hand, before finally falling asleep.

Damien woke up to a disembodied hand shanking him awake. He sat up with a jerk, reaching for his sword before he remembered Nico Robin’s bizarre ability. The hand held up one finger then pointed up to the deck before vanishing in a burst of flower petals.   
All around, in the other swinging bunks, the rest of the men were waking up to similar warnings. Ussop started to yell in alarm, but the hand clapped over his mouth. When the sniper nodded, the hand released him and pressed one finger to his lips, staying there until he nodded again. They all got ready quickly and in complete silence for climbing up on deck.   
A thick fog lay over the ship and the surrounding water. Hands on the deck led them to the kitchen and dining room where Nami, Robin, and Sanji, who had been on watch and preparing for breakfast, waited.   
“Be quiet,” Nami hissed as everyone sat down. Sanji passed around breakfast onagri and she took one without looking. It was in the shape of a heart. “The marine ship is very close by and we don’t want them to notice us until we’re ready.”  
“How close, Nami?” Luffy whispered loudly, inciting a series of “shhhhhh” from around the table.  
“Not far enough,” Nami whispered. “But, Robin and I were thinking that we could use this to our advantage.”  
Robin nodded and explained their plan. “The retrieval team will take the shark sub as planned and climb up the hull. The distraction team will go along and start their attack after they are already on the ship. The team on the Sunny will take the ship out of range so the Marines won’t know where we came from.”  
“That will give us the element of surprise,” Jimbe agreed. “And prevents the marines from sounding an alarm till after the distraction team makes their move.”  
“Exactly,” Nami said. “This fog will burn off in only an hour so we need to be quick. If we can, I’d like to be finished and leaving before we lose the cover.”  
“Yosh!” Luffy cheered, making everyone shush him again. “Let’s go!” he whispered a little quieter.  
He jumped up and started for the door. Zoro caught him by the back of his shirt, bringing him to a stop. “Luffy,” he said with surprising patience. “What is the plan?”  
“We beat up the marines and rescue Hoody’s and Bird-boy’s brother,” Luffy explained, picking his nose.  
There was a thud as Nami’s head hit the table. Zoro sighed and pulled the boy back to the table. “You, me, Red Hood, and Brook will sneak aboard with the kid, Robin, shit cook, and Chopper. Then while they look for the brother, we rain hell on the marines. Can you handle that?”  
Luffy nodded so hard it looked like his neck would break. Sanji went over and laid a heavy hand on Zoro’s shoulder.   
“You’re in charge of him, mosshead,” the cook said sternly. Nami snapped at him to be quiet so he continued softer. “Just make sure he doesn’t sink the ship until we’re gone.”  
Everyone one could see the effort Zoro had to exert to keep from picking a fight, there was even a throbbing vein in his forehead; but he took a deep breath and let it go. “I know,” was all he said.   
“Good,” Nami said, picking her head up off the table. “Then let’s go.”  
The pirates disbursed to gather their equipment in silence. It was the quietest they had been since Jason and Damien had met them. Then they all gathered in the room with Franky’s sub and the boarding party launched. Unfortunately, not everyone could fit inside, so some people had to cling to the outside while Ussop piloted it across the surface under the cover of the fog.   
It was eerie inside the sub, with the “mood lighting” and Brook, who kept humming under his breath. It was better than outside though, which was cold and wet. All the devil fruit users and Damien stayed inside with Ussop, so it was crowded, but Damien didn’t complain about the need to hold Chopper in his lap. Luffy wasn’t happy, but apparently his crew was worried about him falling off, so he was sitting in Robin’s lap with a big pout. Luckily, they reached the marine ship before Luffy got really bored.   
Everyone except Ussop climbed out of the sub. It was precarious with so many people standing on the slick surface, but they quickly made their way to the deck of the marine ship. Red Hood and Damien used their grapples to climb up, Sanji and Brook just leaped up, Zoro and Chopper got caught in Luffy’s “silent” Gum-gum rocket, and Robin climbed up the arms she sprouted on the side of the ship. Surprisingly, they all made it on board without mishap, not even raising an alarm.   
Immediately the two teams split up. The distraction team, after a quick conference, decided to go to the stern of the ship and wreck the steering before really letting loose and drawing all the marines to the deck to deal with the pirates. They crept along the deck, avoiding the patrolling marines on watch. Hood had to bite his tongue to keep from yelling at Luffy, who had the subtly of Superman. The young captain could not sneak at all. He even said “sneak, sneak, sneak” as they made their way across the deck. He and Zoro shared a look of sympathy when the swordsman had to knock Luffy to the deck to avoid being seen. Brook wasn’t much better, with his flamboyant style, but at least he could move in silence, mostly. He kept humming under his breath to “calm his nerves, yo ho ho ho.” It probably made the marines think their ship was haunted, especially with the thick fog covering everything.   
Finally they made it to the wheelhouse. That was when the attempts at sneaking ended. Luffy burst in through the door and immediately started throwing punches. Zoro whipped out two swords and sliced cleanly through the wheel, the column, and out through the wall in a rain of glass. Brook had his sword out and startled slicing through marines as they boiled out on deck to deal with the intruders. Red Hood watched the carnage for a moment, finally understanding why a crew of ten people had no worries about fighting a warship full of enemies. Then he focused on shooting any of the marines that thought they could attack his new friends from behind.   
The fight turned chaotic very quickly. Scores of marines poured from every door and they came armed. Hood was very grateful for his Kevlar body armor and bullet proof helmet when the bullets started to fly. Interestingly, all of the pistols and rifles were flint-lock, without the piercing power of the modern weapons Hood was used to. Compared to the military grade weapons he was used to dodging, these weapons were weak. He grinned behind his helmet as the bullets just bounced off him. He felt bullet proof.  
Luffy, on the other hand, really was bullet proof. The balls of lead would smack into him, stretching his skin until he rebounded it back at the shooter. He barely noticed the onslaught because he was so focused on wiping out as many marines at a time as he could. Using bizarre moves like “Gum-gum whip”, “Gum-gum pistol”, and “Gum-gum cannon”, Luffy beat down whole swatches of marines. It was amazing seeing the ferocity of the normally laid back young man.  
He was not invulnerable though, Hood learned as he started taking down a couple enemies in hand to hand. A man got a lucky swing in with his sword, leaving a bloody cut down Luffy’s side. This seemed to enrage the other two pirates, though Luffy didn’t seem to even notice. Brook turned practically demonic as he sliced through men, leaving them with inexplicable frost burn at the site of the wounds. Gone was the laughing, singing musician; leaving a skeleton swordsman who showed no mercy on the men attacking his nakama. Many of the marines didn’t even know they were cut until Brook had already moved on, leaving his victims to collapse in his wake.  
Despite the frightening appearance of Brook, and the wild energy of Luffy, the scariest fighter in the battle was Zoro. The swordsman had all three swords out now, one in each hand and one clenched in his jaws and he looked more like a demon than Brook. He did as much damage to the ship as he did to the combatants with flying attacks that sent cutting energy through men, wood and steel without distinction. He was not a mindless berserker, though. He kept a careful eye on all three of his teammates and protected Luffy from the stronger swordsmen who would have tried to cut the rubber man. He also bailed out Brook when the skeleton got stuck in a corner. He even came to Hood’s rescue when a mountain of a man had the Gotham-native pinned against a mast, sword raised to cut him down. The green haired swordsman appeared out of nowhere, shoving the much larger Marine out of the way like a linebacker. The soldier fell under the pirate’s sword without a word.   
“Watch your back,” the swordsman snarled around the white hilt in his mouth with surprising dictation. “Next time I might not be there.”  
Hood saluted his rescuer sarcastically, knowing the man couldn’t see his facial expression. It wasn’t like that was the first time he had to fight a guy bigger than him, he hadn’t needed the help. He shot a man who was trying to sneak up on the distracted swordsman. “I’ve got this,” he barked.  
“Then do it,” Zoro snapped and swung his black sword to block a marine swordsman who was trying to cut off Hood’s head.  
They broke apart and threw themselves back into the fight. Hood was actually having fun. The marines were stronger than most of the punks in Gotham, but nothing compared to the rogues’ gallery. Honestly, this was more like an invigorating workout. He was just coming into his stride when the Marine captain came to see what was taking so long.  
“It’s just four men,” Captain Joudan roared over the sound of the fighting. The marines froze and backed away, the fear in their eyes different then when they were fighting the pirates. “Why can’t a warship full of marines deal with four pirates?”  
Someone shouted, “They’re the Strawhats, Capt’n!”  
The man drew his sword and swung at the nearest man, cutting him down. “It doesn’t matter who they are, you lily-liver weaklings! They are pirates and we are marines!” He did something to the sword and it started to glow. “In the name of Fleet Admiral Akainu, we will not back down from any pirates!” He swung the glowing sword at Luffy, who was the closest pirate.   
Luffy didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the captain’s ranting. He hopped out of the way of the sword and landed in front of Red Hood. “Yosh, so this guy’s yours first, right?” he asked, tilting his head like he was trying to see inside Hood’s helmet.   
Hood nodded. He felt adrenaline pump into his veins at the thought of hurting the man who hurt and imprisoned Nightwing, his brother. He holstered his guns and picked up a sword that some marine had dropped. He advanced on the Marine captain, grinning behind his helmet. This was going to be fun.


	8. Chapter 8- Mission: Rescue Greyson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAnnd, now, I present to you, the second half of the rescue mission. *Cheers* These chapters started out as one, but since that made it more than twice the length of the rest of my chapters, I needed to cut them. It built up the suspense a little and let Damien be in the spotlight for a while, so it all worked out. 
> 
> WARNING: Though, I did not describe it in detail, Dick was tortured by the jackass marine captain, so just be aware. It's not pretty.
> 
> Anyhoo, enjoy! And thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments. You warm my heart!

On the deck of the marine ship, Damien and the Retrieval Team slipped away in the opposite direction of the distraction team. They planned to wait until Luffy and the others started fighting before slipping below deck to find Dick Grayson. As they hunkered down behind a stack of cannon balls, Robin used her ability to scout the way down, looking for some sign. She was getting increasingly frustrated when the first sounds of battle started.

“That’s Luffy,” Sanji said, lighting a smoke, when there was a loud crash.

A “shing” sound followed by breaking glass made Robin smile. “And that is our swordsman,” she added.

“Let’s go,” Sanji ordered, leading the way through a door that Robin said led to the interior of the ship. “Let’s make our way down.”  
Damien chafed at having to stay with the pirates, but every time he started to slip away to start his own search, Nico Robin would lay an understanding hand on his shoulder or Chopper would give him pleading, watering eyes. He huffed in annoyance. He had studied the blueprints the women had in the Sunny’s library and he knew that he would be faster and quieter without the three pirates, especially when they needed to keep ducking into closets to hide from waves of marines joining the fight. Finally he stopped, forcing the others to stop with him. Sanji puffed on his cancer stick and looked down on the frustrated 10 year old with.

“What’s wrong, short stuff?” the cook started to ask, but they were interrupted by the sound of more marines running their way and they were forced to hide again.

“This isn’t working,” Damien hissed as they ducked into a laundry room. “We can’t keep sneaking like this. It’s taking too long.”

Sanji nodded, his swirly eyebrow twitching in frustration. “Then what do you recommend, eggplant?” he replied.

“If I may,” Robin said, stepping forward with marine uniforms draped over her arms. “Maybe these will be of use?”

They quickly changed into the uniforms, though Sanji had to step outside while Robin changed before he expired from a nosebleed. Chopper was in his human form, which looked more like a gorilla, but apparently people come in all sizes in the marines, because Robin found a set that was only a little too tight. She found a women’s officer’s uniform and took the lead, the other acting has her bodyguards/subordinates. They could move freely through ships corridors now. No one even gave them a second glance since the rumor was that it was the dreaded Straw-hat Pirates attacking on deck.

Finally, the party reached the brig. It was in the lowest habitable level of the ship. The stench of mildew and waste filled the cool air, making Damien gag and Chopper cover his nose. Two men guarded the entrance and they stopped Robin when she tried to pass by them.

“No one goes in here,” said the bigger man. With his blond hair that fell over one eye, he looked a little like Sanji, but that was where the similarities ended. He was bordering on fat with tiny sleepy eyes that blinked suspiciously at Robin. His hand strayed to the hilt at his hip.

“We’re securing the prisoner, captain’s orders,” Robin answered calmly. She looked down her nose at the man, an impressive feat considering he was a full foot taller than her.

“We’re under orders, too,” the smaller man said. The black haired marine was much shorter and thinner than his partner and his sharp black eyes studied Chopper and Damien, neither of whom looked like normal recruits. Damien looked like the 10 year old he was and Chopper looked like a gorilla with a huge ruff around his neck, and he still had the blue nose. The marine crossed his arms. “No one is to enter the brig until we reach the base.”

Robin tipped her head to the side, fixing the smaller man with a look of derision. “And why would that be?” she asked.

“The prisoner is to be left alone except for visits from the captain until then,” the blond marine snapped, his hand now gripping his sword. “Everyone knows that.”

Sanji stepped forward, his hands up in a peaceful gesture. He had a cap pulled down over his forehead to hide his distinctive eyebrow. “What about feeding him?” he asked carefully.

Damien glared at the cook in surprise. What the hell does that matter, he thought. He stepped forward to demand his brother’s release when Chopper put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Patience,” the reindeer-man whispered.

The marines watched their exchange before the smaller man answering Sanji with a sneer, “He’s hasn’t eaten since he was arrested. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if he survives to see his execution.”  
Damien couldn’t take it anymore, he sprang at the marine ready to kill him but Chopper caught him and held him back. “Execution!” he screamed as he struggled against his friend’s strong arms. “I’ll show you an execution. Yours!”

The marines stepped back from the boy’s ferocity. “I think we need to get the captain,” the blond said, stepping back. He drew his sword and held it threateningly toward the pirates. “You just stay here,” he ordered. “Jas, you send word.”

Robin smiled at the men, her expression enough to keep both marines rooted in place. “Gentlemen,” she purred, taking a step forward. Behind her, Sanji tapped the toe of his shoe on the deck, his face murderous. Chopper held Damien back from slicing the men into itty bitty pieces. He was lucky that the young Wayne liked him, or he would have been injured too. The archeologist didn’t pay any attention to the drama behind her, her focus on the men before her. “I don’t think you need to do that. I’m sure you won’t mind giving us just a few minutes with the prisoner.”  
The men backed up, a little frightened by the apparently unarmed woman. They shook their heads. They both had their weapons out now but Robin still strode forward. “I don’t like people pointing weapons at me,” she said and crossed her arms. “Sies Fluer!” Arms sprouted from the marines and knocked the weapons out of their hands. “Twist!” Robin whispered and the arms gripped the men and twisted them around until their backs popped and they fell to the ground unconscious.  She turned to give her companions a much nicer smile and held out her natural arm, “Shall we?” she asked.

Damien stilled in Chopper’s arms. “She’s a little scary,” he admitted to his new friend in a whisper that he hoped couldn’t reach the woman.

Chopper nodded as he put the boy down and followed Robin through the door. Sanji snorted in agreement and purposefully stepped hard on the men as he followed the other two went through the door into the brig. Damien stepped on them to, but he was more precise in his revenge, stepping on the men’s knee caps, dislocating them with a gross pop. Sanji heard it as he held the door open and they shared a vicious grin with each other.

Inside the brig it was worse than the corridor outside. “Nightwing!” Damien called, quickly passing by the pirates to rush into the darkness.

A soft, pained voice came out of the darkness. “Robin?”

“Dick!” Damien cried and ran to the heavy wooden door where the sound came from. It was locked and Damien’s hands were surprisingly shaking, making it impossible to pick the lock. He cursed in three different languages as he fought with the thin blade he was trying to use to pick the lock.

“Don’t curse,” Nightwing murmured, his voice getting quieter with every word. “Alfred doesn’t like it.”

“Hang in there, Greyson,” Damien shouted. He banged on the heavy door with his fists. He reached for an explosive charge in desperation but before he could place it, Sanji finally caught up.

“Stand back,” the cook ordered. He delivered a powerful kick to the door and it splintered before him.

Damien ran in to find Greyson chained to the wall; his arms secured above his head and his legs in shackles that were secured to the deck. His hair hung around his face like that girl from the movie Damien wasn’t supposed to watch about a video tape. The curtain of hair swayed as Nightwing tried to lift his head to look at his rescuers. Amazingly, despite the shredded state of his blue and black uniform, he still had his mask on.

Damien seemed to teleport to his brother’s side, carefully feeling the shackles to see if he could get them off. Chopper poked his nose in; now in his smaller brain-point form, with his borrowed uniform trailing behind him and carrying a lantern that Robin had found. He had it dimmed to protect Greyson’s eyes, but it didn’t hide the state the man was in. The doctor recoiled for a minute before his professionalism kicked in. He started checking his patient for broken bones or complications that would prevent them from moving him.

Nightwing considered the reindeer for a minute. “Great,” he sighed, “I’m hallucinating now.”

Damien couldn’t help it, he giggled. It only lasted a second but from him it might as well have been hysterics. “Sorry, Nightwing,” he corrected gravely. “Chopper’s as real as I am.”

His older brother chuckled, stopping when his ribs twinged painfully. “What does that say about you, baby-bat?”

“It means we’re getting you out of here,” Damien promised. “Just give me a minute.” He started to dig in his belt, but a hand sprouting out of his shoulder stopped him. The hand held out a set of rusty keys. Damien took them and the hand disappeared in a shower of flower petals. “Thanks, Robin,” he said as he carefully unlocked the manacles around Nightwing’s wrists.

Nightwing groaned as his brother helped him lower his arms. “Scarecrow,” he muttered. “It must be fear-toxin.”

“Nope,” Damien said, moving to the leg shackles. “Just pirates.”

A big jolt through the ship made Robin and Chopper scurry to keep Nightwing from banging against something. Sanji poked his head in the door. “We better hurry,” he said. “Who knows how long the meatheads can restrain themselves.”

“He’s in bad shape,” Chopper declared, stepping back. “But he’s safe to move, though I don’t like the look of his ankle, so he can’t walk.”

“I’ll carry him,” Sanji said, stepping forward.

“No,” Robin said, laying a delicate hand on the cook’s shoulder, making him almost melt. “Chopper should carry his patient. The rest of us will clear the way for him.”

Pushing down the elation from the touch, Sanji nodded in agreement. Chopper changed back into his larger form and gently picked up the injured hero. Nightwing’s eyes got big for a minute before he gave up and passed out.

“I think I scared him,” Chopper apologized, his eyes watering. “I’m so sorry.”

“He’ll get over it,” Damien waved it off. “Let’s just get out of here.”

The group left the dreary brig and started making their way back to the deck. The halls were surprisingly empty as they hurried though, probably because everyone was fighting the men on deck or hiding until it was over. It wasn’t until they were nearly at the top that they heard commotion coming towards them. A quick conference (a.k.a. Robin gave orders) they decided to avoid risking a fight and ducked through the nearest door. It turned out to be the captain’s personal quarters and office. Damien went to a stack of weapons by the bed; grabbing Nightwing’s eskrima sticks and belt triumphantly. Robin meandered to the desk out of curiosity while Sanji guarded the door.

“I see,” she murmured softly.

“What is it Robin?” Chopper asked over his shoulder. He laid Nightwing down on the bed and started ripping the sheet and pillow cases apart to get some bandages on the worst of his patient’s injuries since a couple had started bleeding sluggishly from being moved. “Damien, help me please? Thank you, just hold that there,” he asked the young hero. Damien didn’t argue as he applied pressure to a nasty looking cut on Nightwing’s thigh.

Robin picked up a wanted poster from the desk, it showed a close-up of Nightwing’s face. He looked pissed, his masked eyes flashing. Then she picked up a picture that was the original for the wanted poster. It showed Nightwing held on his knees by four heavy set marines while another two held rifles pointed at the prisoner. “I wondered how the captain arranged the execution so fast,” she explained. “It appears that he manufactured a wanted poster and bounty after he had Nightwing arrested.”

“Nothing we can do about it now,” Sanji pointed out, puffing angrily on his smoke. “Oi, Chopper, you done? The coast is clear again. It sounded like the marines were running from whatever is happening on deck, so this is our chance.”

“Ready,” Chopper said, picking up Nightwing, who was now wrapped up like a mummy.

They slipped back into the hall and up on deck. They saw Red Hood locked in battle with the captain at the far end of the battleship. No one seemed to notice the little group slipping away until Robin was in the process of lowering Nightwing in a net of interlocking arms. Damien was below with Ussop ready to catch the unconscious hero while Chopper and Sanji watched Robin’s back. It was a good thing they were because after one marine looked over to see the party at the rail, a wave of frustrated marines turned away from the other battle to engage the newcomers.

Chopper shifted to karate point, which looked ridiculously like a cylinder but was rather effective. Sanji flung himself at the enemy who dared threaten his precious Robin-chan. Together, they held off the marines until Nightwing was safely inside the Sharksub.

“Shitty bastards,” Sanji cursed. “Oi, Chopper, go with the others back to the Sunny. I’ll stay with the Distraction Team.”

Chopper hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. His priority needed to be caring for his patient. He shifted to leaping point and jumped down to the sub where Robin and Ussop were waiting. Ussop sent a couple firestars at the marines along the rail before they all climbed inside the sub and he could pilot the vessel beneath the waves. The sniper let out a deep sigh of relief as they pulled away from the battleship, glad to be out of its intimidating shadow. Not that he was scared of course, he was just happy they were successful with the rescue mission.

A big jolt shook the ship as cannon balls started to rain down in the water around them. “Hold on!” Usopp shouted, trying to get the sub to dive faster. Then the bombardment stopped. Ussop blessed his lucky stars and pushed the little sub to its limits to get back to the Thousand Sunny before the marines started shooting again.

The ones in the sub couldn’t see, but Sanji was flying above them and diverting the cannonballs until the sub was out of sight. The fog was starting to burn off and from his vantage point he could see Red Hood’s fight with the marine captain. When the cannons stopped, the cook took a second to appreciate the fight below.

The hero had discarded his heavy leather jacket and one of his holsters was empty, but he still looked intimidating with the blood red bat on his chest and the smooth red helmet covering his face. He didn’t appear fatigued at all as he flung himself at the Marine captain with a sword in each hand. Red Hood moved like a battering ram or an acrobat depending on his opponent’s moves. Sanji was impressed by the young man’s flexibility and skill. It was obvious that he had been taught by some very impressive teachers.

The Marine was not in as good a shape as the younger man. His face was bright red with exertion and sweat stained his uniform as he tried to keep his enemy at bay. It was obvious to the hovering chef that the captain had let himself get soft since he gained enough power to hold his position, typical of a bully. The bastard’s most dangerous feature was that weird sword which seemed to turn whatever it touched to ash. The crash that the rescue team had felt earlier, apparently, came from the stupid Marine cutting down his own mast. The massive wooden beam lay across the splintered deck, crushing the main cannons in their protective dome, which was good for the Straw-hats. Adding that to the destroyed wheel-house meant that they wouldn’t need to worry about pursuit. Sanji smiled around his cigarette as sent himself flying toward his captain and the shitty-swordsman, who were idly beating Marines off as they watched the fight. He couldn’t see their musician, but the skeleton’s laughter rang clearly over the sounds of the fighting, so Sanji wasn’t worried about him.

* * *

 

Jason Todd felt his muscles burn as he flung himself out of the range of the Marine Captain’s sword for the umpteenth time. Beyond the boiling pit of anger in his breast from what this man did to his brother, Jason acknowledged distaste for his opponent based mostly in frustration and disgust. The man was a typical bully, strong enough to beat on the weak but obviously relying on his gullible or foolish underlings to deal with anyone of real strength. That was the source of the disgust. The man had no skill and if it wasn’t for the strange abilities of his sword, Red Hood would have taken him down ages ago. But that blasted sword was hard to work around, it was worse than Azrael’s flaming sword or the poison blades of the League of Assassins. He heard Zoro comment that the blade must have eaten a devil fruit, which was so bizarre that Hood didn’t even know what to make of it. How could an inanimate object eat anything, let alone produce that gave magic powers? This place was too crazy.

Hood snarled at the Marine as he swung at the man’s stomach with more rage than finesse, so it wasn’t a surprise that his attack was blocked. The glowing sword struck Hood’s two blades, turning them away, and in that split second, started to turn the metal to metallic ash. He had already lost his jacket, one pistol, and three other swords to this trick. Hood howled in annoyance as he sprung back and flung the now damaged blades at the other man so he had a chance to run and grab a discarded blade from the deck. The marine chased after him, trying to pin him against a wall. The former-Robin used his momentum to launch himself off the wall, executing a flawless twisting flip that sent him over the head of the advancing captain. Hood landed and scored a deep slice across the back of the Marine, cutting his cloak in half and staining the rest in blood. It wasn’t the first strike he had landed in this fight but it was the most damaging and Jason grinned behind his helmet.

“That’s the best you got, you worthless sack of bull’s bullocks?” Hood taunted as the man spun around.

Captain Joudan wasn’t looking very good. He was past red, almost purple, and panting with exertion and his uniform was stained with blood, but his eyes burned with fury. He couldn’t back down now; if he surrendered he would lose the respect of his men, of the Marines, of the Fleet Admiral that he admired so much. But it was obvious he was on his last legs as he stood still, seizing up Red Hood. He opened his mouth to deliver another bitter diatribe about absolute justice, but he was interrupted.

“Hoody!” Luffy shouted, flinging himself between the two combatants, completely ignoring the marine officer. “They got your brother out, and Sanji says he doesn’t look good so we need to go.” He stretched to grab Hood’s arm to try and pull him away.

Red Hood shook off the rubber man. “Not until I finish this filth,” he snarled.

Luffy turned to look at the marine. “Eh, he’s not worth it anymore,” he dismissed the man as he picked his nose.

Hood gaped at the pirate, completely confused. “Are you insane?” he shouted. “You said he was mine.”

Brook appeared behind him and laid a bony hand on his shoulder. “Relax my friend; this man is all but finished already. Yo ho ho, look at him. He’s barely on his feet, brought down by an unknown with no devil-fruit powers.” Brook looked pointedly around at the rest of the marines, who had stopped attacking to stare at their Captain. “He has lost his power in the eyes of his men.”

Hood shook with repressed rage, but he knew that the skeleton had a point. He was still debating with himself, when Zoro and Sanji strolled up.

“I wonder if all these Marines know that the only reason we’re here is because their captain faked a wanted poster of an innocent man. A man he tortured, starved, and set up for execution with no regard to justice,” the cook mused loudly. “I mean, if the fool hadn’t arrested Nightwing, we would have never tracked them down and wrecked their ship, leaving them to drift, helpless on the Grand Line. Sad, really.” He causally dropped some pictures behind him, showing exactly how the wanted poster was made.

One of the higher ranked marines picked up the papers, his face darkening before passing them on. The marines started murmuring to each other. As the muttering got louder and the pirates started to steer the hero toward the rail so they could leave, Captain Joudan roared with rage and charged at them, swing his sword in glowing, angry red patterns.

Hood pushed Luffy out of the way and parried the attack, sending the empowered sword into the deck, tip first. Hood lashed out with a kick, sending the man reeling back, abandoning his sword at Hood’s feet. As soon as Joudan’s hand released the hilt, the sword’s powers stopped and the deck stopped turning to ash. Hood picked up the sword. He could feel the power, but honestly, he didn’t care. He had learned early on that powers could be more of a crutch than an advantage. He flung the blade and it flew over the side and hit the water with a hiss that could be heard across the now silent deck.

“Now he’s powerless,” Hood said and deliberately turned his back on his defeated opponent. It wasn’t the kind of defeat that he personally preferred, which left his enemies broken or dead, or the kind that Batman preferred which left the villain in jail, but it felt pretty good.

Luffy cheered and wrapped his friends in a huge group hug before pulling them back, away from the rail. Jason flailed around, not sure what was happening, but based on the resigned and slightly panicked looks on the pirates’ faces, he figured he wasn’t going to like it.

“Gum-gum rocket!” Luffy yelled out and launched them all across the water into the thinning remains of the fog.

Jason was not embarrassed to admit he screamed as he felt himself fly through the air, held by a rubber teenager, surrounded by insane pirates, and heading at unsafe speeds to a ship that he couldn’t see over an ocean apparently filled with monsters if he believed Ussop. His life had officially hit a level of crazy that he had never imagined, which says something for a guy who had been beaten to death by a homicidal clown. His musings were cut abruptly short when the party slammed hard into the deck of the Sunny. The impact drove the breath from his body and he lay on the grass for a moment, gasping like a fish while Zoro and Sanji berated their captain while Brook stood back and made “skull jokes.”

Nami came over and held out her hand to the puffing hero to help him to his feet. “Welcome back,” she said with a smile. “Chopper has your brother in the infirmary with your little brother. We’ll take care of getting away from the marines, so you can go check on him.” She smiled at him and shooed him way with a wave of her hand before turning her attention to her crewmates. “All right, you idiots,” she shouted, knocking Luffy over the head as she walked past, “unfurl the sails. I want to catch the wind before it dies. Move it!”

Hood shook his head as he left the pirates to the navigator’s tender mercies and went to find out Nightwing’s condition, and maybe change out of his uniform, which smelled to high heaven.


	9. Chapter 9- Call Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun, but it is very dialog heavy. I hope it is not too boring; not that I think it is. I crack up when I read it because I have a love for Transponder snails. Seriously this whole story was born from me wondering what the batglare would look like coming through a snail. So this is the beginning of that fun, and of course the heart wrenching hurt/comfort for poor Nightwing. Enjoy!

Nightwing’s condition wasn’t good. Greyson had gotten the shit beaten out of him, repeatedly. Chopper had an extensive list of injuries but Jason stopped listening right around the broken ribs and dislocated shoulder. Looking at the man lying in the cot, swaddled in layers of bandages with several IV’s in his arm, Jason felt sick and he wished they had done more to the Marines. Damien seemed to feel the same if the way he was glowering in the corner was any indication. He obviously got that brooding look from his father.

“Well, Doctor Chopper, will he make it?” Jason asked, interrupting the diminutive doctor. He was trying for flippant, but he just sounded worried.

The reindeer sighed and Damien flinched. “Yes, yes of course,” Chopper replied quickly, trying to remain cheerful. He ran a hoof over Greyson’s bandaged hand which had three fingers in splints, the other hand was worse. “He’ll definitely live and I’d wager he’ll make a full recovery but it will not be an easy one. Several of his injuries will require physical therapy if not surgery before he can regain full movement again.” He turned to his table to run some more tests and jot down some more notes to give the brothers a little privacy while the brothers considered the situation.

Damien looked up and made eye contact with Jason. “We need to get him home. We have access to the best medical care in the world. Father will not allow this to stand.”

“I’m sure B will pull all of the stops to make sure Golden Boy gets back on his feet, but the question is how do we get home?” Jason asked softly, finally giving a name to the elephant in the room. “We haven’t been able to contact the cave or Replacement since we got here. And it’s not like we have access to a dimensional portal on the ship.”

“So we could be stuck here for a while,” Damien hissed, like he had only just thought of that. His face fell and when he glanced at Nightwing, he almost panicked. “Chopper, what do we do?”

Chopper turned around and crossed his arms. “If you can’t get home in the next few days, I’d like to call in a surgeon to help with some of the tissue damage. I’m worried that if we wait too long, the scar tissue will hinder his recovery. We could try to call Trafalgar Law. He’s a brilliant surgeon, if a little scary.”

Nicco Robin chose that moment to poke her head into the infirmary, and Jason was just glad that she hadn’t decided to just appear out of the wall. “The captain has already called Captain Law a few minutes ago. He thought you’d appreciate some help,” she explained with a smile to Chopper. “Though it was probably more of an excuse to call the man then a comment on your abilities, Doctor.”

Chopper danced in place, his cheeks red under his fur. “It doesn’t make me happy to hear you call me doctor, you jerk,” he mumbled happily.

“How did you call anyone?” Jason asked carefully. He hadn’t seen any technology on this ship that looked like a radio or a telephone. That was part of why he had been so frustrated that none of their tech was working; he hadn’t found any alternatives.

Robin turned to him. “With the transponder snail of course.”

Jason and Damien shared a look. “A snail?” Damien asked, incredulous.

Robin nodded. “Would you like to see it?”

* * *

Apparently on this world, especially on the Grand Line, communication was limited to News Gulls (seagulls who delivered the daily paper and mail) and transponder snails. Each of the Straw Hats tried to explain how the strange mollusk worked, but after listening to all the explanations, Jason and Damien decided to accept Luffy’s succinct declaration: “It’s a mystery.” Honestly, Red Robin and Batman’s minds would seize when faced with what passed as science on this world, so it was just as well that neither Damien nor Jason really cared about those things. If it works, that was all that mattered.

Damien poked at the snail who regarded him with resignation. “This thing lets you call someone on the other side of the ocean?” he asked.

“Yosh!” Luffy agreed cheerfully. “How else would you call someone?”

“With a phone?” Damien snapped back, turning away from the grateful snail.

“What’s that?” Ussop asked from his seat at the table where he was trying to make some new ammunition for his slingshot. He preferred using his new pop-greens but you can’t beat the classic Tabasco-star, apparently.

“Ussop, I swear, you better clean that shit up before dinner,” Sanji threatened without turning around as he stirred a pot of something that smelled heavenly. Ussop blanched as he focused back on his task.

Damien grabbed his bag from where he left it by the door; he rarely let it out of his sight. He rummaged inside for a moment before bringing out phone. It looked like a big, black, and clunky satellite phone. “This is a phone,” he explained. “It uses radio signals to allow people to talk across long distances.” He knew it was much more complicated than that, but he didn’t want to confuse the pirates. “This one was built to amplify the signal using native technology to reach across … well reach home.”

“And the only native technology you have is a snail,” Robin mused thoughtfully. She kept tapping her fingers like she was considering something, and her eyes were sharper than before, less trusting. “I could see where that would be frustrating.”

“Oh, yeah!” Franky boomed. “Hit the nail on the head, Robin. But hey, don’t give up hope, little bro!” The cyborg stuck a ridiculous pose. “SUP-AH Franky is on the case. I should be able to rig something that will connect your thing-a-ma-jig to our transponder snail. Then you can call home! Oh, yeah!”

Jason let his head drop to the table with a bang. Based on what they had seen on the ship so far, there was no doubt that the cyborg was a mechanical genius, but was hard to put all their faith in the pervert. “It’s not like we have any other choices,” he pointed out with a sigh, waving at Damien to surrender the phone to Franky and Ussop. The two pirates cheered when the boy hesitantly handed it over. “But I can’t watch this,” Jason decided, pushing away from the table. “Let me know how it goes.”

Damien watched Todd leave, probably to sleep or train somewhere. He watched the pirates carefully pry open the case of the phone. Franky started crying with joy at the complex circuitry. Damien decided to follow his brother’s lead. He slipped out as Ussop carefully poked at the tangle of wires, earning himself a light shock that made Franky boom with laughter. Leaving the fools to attempt to make contact with their home, Damien returned to Grayson’s bedside to resume his vigil on his unconscious older brother. Robin watched him leave with narrowed eyes.

* * *

 

That night, at dinner, Franky announced that he had the phone connected to the Transponder snail.

“You can try it any time, bros,” he said around a mouthful of fresh baked bread. “We didn’t try to make a call. Kinda figured we’d save that for you.”

Jason shook his head in disbelief. “That is amazing, guys. I can’t believe you figured it out so fast.”

“It was pretty impressive,” Ussop preened. “But nothing it too difficult for the Mighty Ussop!”

“Sit down and eat your dinner, idiot,” Sanji ordered, shoving the younger man back into his seat before he could literally start singing his own praises.

“So, you’ll be going home soon?” Nami asked as she daintily picked at her perfectly prepared slice of bread.

The bread tasted amazing when dipped into the thick beef stew that Sanji had made. Luckily it wasn’t meat, so everyone could eat their fill without having to fight off Luffy. The steaming loaves made Damien and Jason a little homesick, remembering Alfred’s amazing baking.

Jason glanced at Damien who shrugged. “We need to see what they say at home,” Jason admitted. “Our ride home might be out of commission for the moment.”

“And what exactly is your ride home?” Robin asked, pinning them with her gaze.

“You know, I hadn’t thought of that,” Nami mused. “Where did you say you were from?”

“Um,” Jason hedged. Damien was no help; he just tsked and kept eating. They hadn’t discussed what was safe to tell their new friends. Would the Straw-hats object to them being from another world?

“Who cares?” Luffy said, picking his nose. “They’re our friends, right? So what does it matter where they come from?”

“Even if they are from another world?” Robin asked with a fond smile for her captain. Everyone’s heads snapped around to look at the two sheepish heroes, well, almost everyone.

Luffy flicked his booger and ignored Sanji’s indignation. “Yeah, so? How is a mystery world any different than a sky island?”

All the pirates looked around at each other. It always caught them off guard when Luffy said something intelligent, but they never argued when he was right.

“Or a giant, island eating goldfish?” Ussop pointed out with a grin.

“Yo ho ho ho, or a floating island of zombies?” Brook added cheerfully.

“Many consider Fishman Island to be another world,” Jimbe put in his two beris with his usual calm demeanor.

“I wish that hell island had been on another world,” Sanji muttered darkly, remembering his time during the crew’s separation.

Nami rolled her eyes as her crew continued to compare notes on the outrageous places they had been. She turned to Damien and Jason, who looked bewildered. “So it doesn’t matter where you’re from, but it would help to know how you got here, so we can help you.”

Damien opened his mouth to either say something very condescending or too technical to understand. Jason beat him to it to prevent a fight. “It was a magical doorway that connected our two worlds. If we can talk to the gang at home, they can tell us what we need to do on our end to open it again.”

“Good, so that settles it,” Sanji interrupted putting a new basket of sliced bread, hot from the oven, on the table. “Let’s table this discussion for now and eat. You can call after dinner.”

Jason agreed happily and dug in with a will. Sanji’s food was better than any of the five star restaurants back home.

* * *

 

After dinner was finished and Jason and Damien checked on Nightwing, who still unconscious, everyone, except Chopper, gathered to see if Franky had fixed the transponder snail to call Gotham. Damien glared at Jason until the older man gave in and allowed him to place the call. They all waited with bated breath as the snail gave a strange purring ring for several seconds until someone picked up with a “ka-chink.”

“Greetings, you’ve reached the Wayne Residence,” said a cultured English accent.

Jason whooped, pumping his fist in victory. Damien stared in amazement as the butler’s voice came from the snail’s mouth. The creature’s whole expression was calm and dignified, much like Alfred’s usual demeanor.

 “Is that you, Pennyworth?” Damien asked carefully into the little hand-held receiver.

“Master Damien?” the snail said with Alfred’s voice. “Thank goodness. Where are you?”

“We’re still in that other world,” Jason said leaning over Damien’s shoulder to speak.

“Master Jason, it is good to hear your voice as well,” Alfred said warmly, the snail’s expression softening into a gentle smile. “Allow me to transfer this call down stairs. There are a few others who would like to speak to you.”

There was a moment of silence before someone else picked up. The snail’s expression changed to a grim, stern glare. “Robin?”

“I’m here, Father,” Damien said, unconsciously straightening his back. “Red Hood is with me.”

“Report,” Batman demanded. “Where is Nightwing and the scientist?”

“We arrived on the other world unharmed,” Robin began. “We were on an island in a region called the Grand Line. After some reconnaissance we discovered Nightwing had been arrested by a corrupt local official who intended to execute him. We found no evidence of the scientist. We enlisted the help of a crew of pirates to track and attack the marine vessel that held Nightwing. We rescued him, but discovered that he received severe injuries. He is currently being treated by the ships doctor, who is very knowledgeable.”

“Poo,” Luffy pouted, loudly. “That makes this whole adventure sound so lame.”

“Who was that?” Batman growled.

“Straw-hat Luffy, the captain of the crew who helped us,” Damien answered, waving at Luffy to be quiet.

Batman considered this answer for a moment before answering. The snail looked even grimmer, if that was possible. “Captain Luffy,” he addressed the pirate, “will you continue to assist my sons?”

Luffy stepped forward and took the handset from Damien. “Yosh, of course,” the cheerful young man answered. “They’re real strong, so they can sail with us as long as they want.” He paused with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Hey, I’ve got a question.”

“Then ask it,” Batman said harshly.

The tension in the room ramped up. Damien and Jason exchanged looks, wondering what Luffy wanted to know. Would the pirate captain demand something for his help and continued cooperation? They had learned that he got attached to people sometimes. Maybe he wouldn’t let them leave. He had a pretty big barging chip with Nightwing injured in the other room.

Luffy regarded the snail with a serious expression. “Do you poop, mystery man?” he asked.

All of the Straw-hats groaned at their captain’s foolishness. Nami punched the top of his head hard enough that his neck stretched to smack his face on the floor. “You can’t just ask people that!” she screeched.

Damien looked ready to spit nails, so Jason snagged the receiver. “Ignore that last question, B. Luffy’s kind of special, but he’s good in a fight. What’s happening in Gotham? How’d it go with the pits to hell?”

The snail grit its teeth. “Faust teamed up with Morgan La Fey to draw a demon from the pits of Tartarus, but they lost control of the spell so it spread across the world. Doctor Fate managed to close them after we tricked Klarion into lending his assistance, but as we anticipated, it closed the doorway we used to send you. We’re working on fixing it now, but it could take a few days.”

“So, no quick ride home. Do you even know how to find us to bring us back?” Jason asked suspiciously. Honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a plan. Well, a little surprised that Bats didn’t have a way to bring his son and Golden Boy home, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had failed Jason.

“Jason,” Batman said slowly while the snail glowered, “we do have a plan to bring you home. The only problem is we don’t know where the door will open. Because of Klarion’s spell, we think the location has changed. You will need to find the new location.”  
Jason slammed his fist on the table, making almost everyone in the room jump. “It’s not that simple, Bats!” he yelled angrily. “It’s not like we can enter coordinates into a GPS! You’re talking about finding a random location in the middle of an ocean where compasses don’t work. If that’s your only plan, you’re signing our death warrants.” Jason clenched the receiver until it creaked in his hand. He couldn’t see through the red clouding his vision. He thought he had been resigned to this, expected this, but it felt like that warehouse all over again; that moment when he realized Batman wasn’t going to get there in time. Only this time it wasn’t just him, it was his brothers too.

“Todd, you still there?” a new voice said. Jason sneered at the snail. At least Batman still had his replacement; he’d never had a problem finding new Robins. “Jason, we’re not abandoning you. We don’t know where the new door will open but we’re working on ways to find out and send out a signal you can follow. We will get you home,” Tim Drake promised. “Just be careful until we can come get you.”

Unable to speak, Jason handed off the receiver to Damien and left. He needed to see Dick, to prove to himself that it was worth it to come here. He walked past Zoro, who appeared to be napping beside the door, and Brook who had been surprisingly quiet this whole time. Both swordsmen let him pass without a fuss, watching him with only one eye between them. It reminded Red Hood of the Fates in Greek mythology. He didn’t want to think about fate right now, so he slammed the door behind him.

Damien watched the older hero leave with a frustrated glare. The young man was so impulsive and sensitive. Damien had more control than that. “Todd left, Drake. He just needs to brood for a while, don’t worry about that fool,” he explained.

“Damien, you believe me right?” Drake asked. The snail’s eyes drooped, looking pitiful.

Damien rolled his eyes. “Of course, Drake. How will you contact us when you’re ready?”

“I don’t think we can call you. Can you check in with us once a day?” Drake asked, apparently distracted from his worry for Todd. “Can you ask the crew if you will be in the same area or will you be moving on soon?”

Nami stepped forward and held out her hand to accept the receiver. “Hello, this is Nami. I’m the ship’s navigator. What do you need from us? Will there be a problem if we continue on our journey?”

“Hello, Nami. I’m Red Robin,” Drake introduced himself. “No, actually, I don’t think there will be, if you’re traveling in one direction. We think the new location will follow along the path of the planet’s rotation, so if you’re moving in one direction, then it will be best.”

Nami tapped her fingers on the table. “The Grand Line runs along the equator of this world and we travel along it going from island to island. So that will work perfectly for us.”

“What do you need from us, to find where the door opens? What are your technical capabilities?” Drake asked.

Nami handed the device off to Franky. “Oh, yeah! Super Cyborg Franky, here. So, bro we need to know what kind of signal you’re sending. Then I can try to make a receiver that will let us pick it up. How’s that, bro?”

“Can I let you know next time?” Drake asked, sheepishly.

The snail yawned and the signal started to get fuzzy. Damian snagged the receiver from the cyborg with a flip to reach that high. “Drake, we’re losing you. The snail is getting tired.”

“Wait, what? Damien!”

“We’ll try to call back tomorrow. Good bye,” Damien said before putting the receiver back in its place on the snail’s back. As soon as the call clicked off, the snail yawned hugely and slipped back in its shell. Soon soft snoring echoed through the quiet room.

Ussop stepped forward and poked at Damien’s phone that was wired to the shell. He yelped and jumped back. “Youch, that’s hot. I think we need to keep your calls shorter from now on or you’ll burn your thingy out.”

“Is the snail okay?” Nami asked worriedly.

Ussop poked his long nose into the poor snail’s shell. “Yep, he’s just tired. This dimensional thing must be harder than normal calls.”

Nami nodded. “Fine, let’s leave the poor thing alone for a while.”

Damien sat down, crossing his arms over his chest as he ran the conversation through his head. They had learned somethings, but there was plenty to worry about. First and for most, was finding the new location of the door so they could go home. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about that from this end. It was up to Father and Drake. Damien’s first priority then was Greyson.

“You said you called a surgeon?” he asked, turning to the rubber captain. “When will he arrive?”

Luffy broke into one of his signature grins. “Traffy said he’d meet us within a day. It sounded like he was really close. Lucky, huh!”

Damien glared. “Tsk, he better be as good as you say,” he declared before leaving the room with a swish of his cape. He could hear the pirates erupt into a rowdy discussion about their guests. The loudest was, of course, Luffy who loudly complained that no one answered his poop questions.


	10. Chapter 10- Wakey Wakey, Eggs and MEAT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Over 100 kudos?! I'm amazed and so excited. Thank you guys for all your support. And thanks for sticking with me. My posting schedule is going to be really wonky for a while. I'm in the process of moving across the country and it is crazy stressful. I have so many books!   
> Anyway, enjoy. It's time for some hurt/comfort and brotherly bonding.

After the phone call home, Damien didn’t really have a course of action in mind, so he wasn’t surprised to find himself in front of the infirmary. He cracked the door open to peek in.

Jason Todd knelt beside the cot holding the unconscious Nightwing. The younger man cradled his brother’s hand in his own with utmost care, his head bowed over the hands with his black hair falling to hide his expression. Chopper was fast asleep in the corner, a blanket laid over the little reindeer, probably by Todd.

“You better be okay, Golden Boy,” Todd murmured softly. “I did not come all this way for you to give up the ghost, you hear me? The demon spawn needs you to, you idiot.” He sniffed lightly and it sounded too wet to be derisive. “The brat was really worried about you, you know. He hasn’t even challenged anyone to a duel since we got here.” He laughed weakly. “Not sure how that would go with this group, to be honest. They’d probably love it. You should see these people, Dickie-bird. They all belong in Arkham, but damn if I don’t like them. Don’t know why either. Luffy’s an idiot and he’s so fucking cheerful that I want to hit him. I bet you’ll like him, fu..freaking blue bird of happiness that you are.”

Damien pushed the door open the rest of the way. Todd jumped a little, and one hand went to his hip, but when he saw who it was, he used the free hand to wipe his eyes before turning back to Dick. Damien went to sit cross-legged next to Jason.  He put a hand on Greyson’s leg, feeling his brother’s warmth through the blanket.

 Jason continued his running commentary, “Personally, I prefer Jimbe. He’s a giant blue fishman. He wears a kimono and top knot and has a wicked sense of humor sometimes. Zoro is pretty neat too. He’s a swordsman who uses three swords, I kid you not. He holds the third in his mouth. I know that sounds stupid, but if you saw him fight, you’d understand. The man is a monster. I’m glad he’s on our side.” Todd trailed off, either running out of things to talk about or overcome with emotion, Damien wasn’t sure.

“Chopper is my favorite,” Damien spoke up softly, his voice gaining strength as he continued. “He’s your doctor but he’s also a reindeer. He’s so small, so you’d think he’d need protection, but he’s pretty tough.” Damien laughed softly and reached up to wipe his eyes that he hadn’t realized were filling up. Dust had gotten in them, or the antiseptic was irritating them, maybe. “He can transform into all kinds of shapes that he can use to fight. He’s really smart too, so you’re in good hands.” He snorted. “I have little patience for the rest of the crew, however. The captain is deranged and the rest are much too carefree.”

“You’ll like these fools,” Jason said, leaning over too bump his shoulder against Damien’s. Damien glared at him but somehow resisted retaliation. “So you better wake up soon and meet them.” They shared a quiet smile at that, and then turned away, embarrassed to show such weakness to anyone, let alone each other.

On the cot, Dick started to stir. He groaned and his eyes fluttered. His hands twitched at his sides.

Damien leapt to his feet. “Chopper, wake up!” he ordered, bodily picking up the little doctor to bring him to the patient’s side when the creature didn’t wake up fast enough.

Chopper blinked sleepily for a few seconds before bursting into a whirl of efficiency as he checked everything connected to Dick.

Nightwing opened his eyes to Chopper’s concerned face as the doctor checked the bandages on his head. “Still hallucinating, then,” he croaked, sounding resigned.

Jason stood up to get a glass of water and a straw. He handed it to Damien who held the straw for Dick to drink.

“Nope,” Jason said, retreating across the small room to lean against a wall and cross his arms over his chest. “You’re as aware as you can be. Things are just that crazy here.”

“Jason?” Dick said, turning his head to look at his brother. “You came for me?”

Jason scoffed. “Of course I did, Dickie-bird. Couldn’t leave the demon spawn to do it all by himself.”

Damien scowled at Jason but was distracted when Dick tried to sit up. Every movement was excruciating for the oldest brother and now that he was not in danger, it was harder to ignore all the damage to his body. Still, Dick wasn’t going to just lie around like a log after his brothers rescued him. He owed them that much and he didn’t want them to see him like this.

Chopper stepped forward, tutting in disapproval. “Stop trying to get up,” he ordered. He pushed Damien out of the way and laid a hoof on Dick’s bandaged chest, stopping him from sitting the rest of the way up. He pulled out a pen light. “Let me check your eyes. I’m worried about a concussion.”

Dick stared at the diminutive doctor, still not certain that he was not dreaming, but he didn’t fight the doctor’s exam. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Doctor Tony Tony Chopper,” the creature introduced himself. “How’s your stomach? Do you feel up to eating something? I would prefer to take you off the IV as soon as possible.” Dick nodded, smiling kindly at the little guy. Chopper looked over at Jason. “Jason, can you ask Sanji to whip something up? He’ll know what will be easy on Nightwing’s stomach.”

Dick glanced at Damien, finally noticing that neither brother wore their masks. “Jason?” he mouthed behind Chopper’s back.

Damien shrugged. “Doesn’t matter here,” he answered dismissively, like he wasn’t breaking one of Batman’s most important rules. “And one of the crew is named Robin.”

Dick shook his head gently, trying to remember everything that happened. The last few days, well, weeks, were sort of a blur. “Wait, last thing I remember, I was arrested by that marine captain. We were at sea. How did you find me?”

“We secured the assistance of the Straw Hat Pirates,” Damien said, like it was no big deal.

“So we’re on a pirate ship?” Dick asked. He struggled to sit up again, not comfortable with the idea of being helpless on a ship crewed by criminals.

“That is correct,” Damien answered flatly. “Stop trying to get up. You’ll hurt yourself.”

Dick gave up the fight to sit up more, letting his little brother get him settled back on the pillows. “You’re okay with this?”

“They’re not so bad, most of them,” Damien admitted, though he was scowling pretty hard. “The captain is a buffoon, and the others would fit right in at Arkham, but they appear to be decent enough people.”

“Besides, how else were we supposed to get you back from a corrupt marine captain?” Jason asked from the door. He was holding a tray with bowl of broth that smelled lovely. “That bastard was going to execute you; it wasn’t like we could appeal in court.” He set tray carefully in Dick’s lap and returned to leaning in the corner. “We can’t all be golden boys, you know.” He shrugged, like nothing mattered which usually meant there was more he wasn’t saying. “Anyway, eat that then get some rest. We’ll explain everything later.”

All three sets of eyes stared at him until Dick made the effort to eat. He had trouble holding the spoon with his fingers in splints and his wrists immobilized, so Damien stepped forward to help him drink straight from the bowl. Dick felt a little guilty when he thought that it was the best broth he had ever had, better than Alfred’s. He could almost feel his strength returning.

“We’ll call Father when you’re more awake,” Damien spoke up once Dick had taken several sips.

Dick’s eyes felt heavier every moment, but they snapped open at that. “You can call home?” he asked urgently.

Damien tutted until Dick accepted another drink of broth, so Jason answered. “We hooked up a communicator to the local communication network and got a call through. B and the replacement are working on getting us home.”

Dick frowned, trying to figure out what was wrong with that statement, but he couldn’t get through the fog of exhaustion and pain to figure it out. He started to ask when he yawned. This brought the little reindeer doctor back to life.

“That’s enough excitement for now,” Chopper decreed. He whisked away the tray and helped Nightwing lay back down. “You need your rest. There will be plenty of time to talk later.”

Jason snickered but he quickly turned serious when Chopper glared at him. “I’ll just let the others know that Dickie-bird woke up for a minute, okay, Dr. Chopper?” he said, inching toward the door with his hands held up defensively.

Chopper narrowed his eyes at the retreating hero, but his cheeks turned red at being addressed as doctor. “Fine,” he agreed before turning back to the other two. Greyson was already asleep, but Damien glared from his spot next to the cot.

“Don’t even think of ordering me out!” the boy hissed fiercely.

Chopper shook his head. “No, I was just thinking that we might need a guard in here,” the wise doctor offered. He considered the thick door separating them from the rest of the crew. The usual sounds of mayhem resonated through the quiet office. “Luffy thinks that anything can be cured with enough meat, so we should stay vigilant. Sometimes he sneaks in to offer his own treatment when I’m not looking. He almost choked Ussop trying to feed him meat last time.”

Damien nodded thoughtfully. “Fine,” he decided. He pulled his sword out and laid it in his lap. “Just let him try.” Chopper shivered at the ice in the ten year old’s tone and really hoped that his captain didn’t try anything this time.


	11. Chapter 11- Beginning Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but I'm tired of rewriting it so I'm offering it to you. Hopefully things pick up from here. I know it's been a while so thank you for your patience.

The next time Nightwing woke up, the world was a lot clearer. He wasn’t sure if it was the sleep, the food, or just knowing that his family was here for him, but he felt better. His spirit felt lighter than he had since he’s fallen through the door way into this crazy world. He had never felt so alone, those first few hours. The scientist that fell through with him, had died of a broken neck, leaving Nightwing with no information about where he was or how to get home. After the first few days, living as a stranger in the nearby port, he had almost given up hope of ever seeing Gotham again. Seeing Robin and Red Hood had been a very welcome shock.

The first thing Dick saw when he opened his eyes was the little animal who was apparently his doctor, changing out his IV bag. Reflexively the hero scanned the room for threats, but the only other person was Damien, who was fast asleep in the corner.

“Thank you,” Dick tried to say but it came out as a raspy groan. He painfully cleared his throat and tried again. “Thank you, Dr. Chopper.” At least he recognized his voice that time.

The little creature blushed bright enough to glow through his fur. He danced in place, grinning as he murmured, “It doesn’t make me happy to be called doctor, you bastard!”

Dick smiled at that, but he had a bruise on his jaw that twinged painfully. “You look happy,” he pointed out.

“Shut up, jerk,” Chopper scolded before getting a hold of himself. “How are feeling?” he asked. He finished with the IV bag and grabbed his stethoscope and held it to Nightwing’s chest. “Breathe as deep as you can please.”

It hurt to breathe. That marine captain had enjoyed kicking him, and Nightwing recognized the feeling of cracked ribs. Chopper nodded as he listened before turning and making some notes. Nightwing looked over to see Damien watching him with narrowed eyes.

“Grayson,” his little brother acknowledged before turning to Chopper. “How long have I been asleep?”

“For quite some time, actually. You missed breakfast, but I decided that you needed your rest. Your brother said you haven’t been sleeping,” Chopper replied distractedly. He started looking at Nightwing’s fingers, still making notes every once in a while. “It was quiet last night, if you were worried.”

“I would have woken up if something happened,” Damien shot back defensively. “Especially if it was Luffy.”

“Who’s Luffy?” Dick asked, as he watched Chopper’s cloven hooves prod gently at his shoulder.

“Luffy’s our captain,” Chopper explained. “Try to lift your arm, but if it hurts, stop immediately.”

“I’m remembering now. You said we are on a pirate ship?” Nightwing asked, suspiciously. Chopper didn’t look like a pirate, not that he would know what a pirate of this world would look like anyway.

“Yes,” Chopper said, cheerfully. “We’re the Straw Hat Pirates and everyone is very excited to meet you.” He paused in his ministrations to share a look with Damien. “Though maybe meeting the whole crew at once will be too much of a strain on you.”

Damien rolled his eyes. “I can barely handle them, but waiting is pointless. Grayson is strong enough to deal with those lunatics, even stuck in bed.”

Dick shot a grateful look at his little brother. “I see no reason to stretch this out. Bring on the pirates.”

Chopper looked worried, scuffing his feet nervously before nodding. “If that’s what you want, I’ll…” he paused to look at the door.

The two humans went still as they listened. Outside, someone was fighting, loudly. Crashes and the crack of splintering wood could be heard through the door, but it was the gunshot that had Nightwing reaching for his belt that was hanging off the chair next to his bed, he didn’t care how it got there. He couldn’t lift his arms higher than his chest, but he refused to be defenseless again so soon after captivity. He felt a lot better with a baterang in his hand, and he looked toward the other two, expecting them to be preparing for the worst as well. They surprised him.

Damien sighed. He nodded at Chopper, who continued to deal with Nightwing’s injuries with no further acknowledgment of the ruckus. “It sounds like Todd is having a disagreement with your crew,” he said distastefully. “Shouldn’t we do something about that?”

Chopper finished checking over Nightwing and stood up, purposefully. “I’ll go see what the fight is about and send Jason in here. I’ll let the others know you’re ready for visitors,” he said, returning to his usual cheerful personality.

Nightwing relaxed his grip on his batarang and glanced at Damien, who shrugged indifferently. “I’d love to meet your crew, Dr. Chopper. I should thank them for helping my brothers rescue me.”

Chopper blushed again and danced out the door, still cursing Dick for the compliment.

Damien handed his brother a glass of water. “You might regret that,” he said, avoiding Dick’s eyes, which meant he liked something and didn’t want to admit it. “These people are insane.”

Dick chuckled. “I think you said that already,” he teased.

Before Damien could retort, Jason pushed through the door, a ferocious glare on his face, his gun in his hand, and mumbling about rubber, and strangest of all, dripping wet. Damien turned up his nose at Red Hood, but Dick couldn’t help reaching for his younger brother to try to fix whatever the problem was. He was maybe a little more protective than he liked to admit. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do in his condition, and his worry went unacknowledged. 

Jason flung himself into the open chair and let out a string of curses in several languages, all of them inexplicably involving rubber. “That idiot tried to break in here, so I diverted him into the mess, hoping that Sanji would distract him but he was already mad from something the mosshead did and kicked us out. I did manage to grab some food, but that glutton bit me trying to get at it and wouldn’t let go of my finger until I shot him. Do you know what rubber bullets do to a rubber man?” he finally vented in English. Damien snorted but Nightwing was just confused. “Not a gosh darn, freaking thing. It took jumping overboard to get the bastard off my finger, jumping overboard! Then I had to save the idiot because he can’t swim and Zoro said it was my fault in the first place. And do you know what he said when I got us both back on the deck?”

Damien grinned at Jason’s misfortune. “Next time, maybe you should just let him have the food,” he suggested, looking down his nose as Jason toweled himself off. “Really, idiots like that are hopeless.”

Jason glared at the youngest Wayne. “He said, ‘Oops, sorry,’” he continued. “Like that fixes anything.” He held up his finger which was wrapped in a clean bandage. “Chopper checked my finger and sent me in here to cool off. Sanji should be in here soon with food,” he finished in a much calmer tone.

“Good, I’m starving,” Damien said, before pulling out a knife and a whet stone. The sound of sharpening steel filled the little room.

“Who bit you?” Dick finally managed to say after a few minutes. It took that long for him to pick through the rant to decide what he wanted to ask. Jason’s whole story raised a lot of questions.

Jason shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, Goldie. It’s not really that big of a deal, I’m just…venting. I don’t like being stuck here waiting for the others to get us home. That rubber idiot was just being himself.”

“Red Hood not holding a grudge to the end of time? Are you sure you’re him?” Dick teased gently. He reached over to pat his brother’s shoulder but couldn’t get his arm high enough. He bit back a groan as he let his arm settle back done at his side.

“Forget about me, how are you?” Jason said, sounding a lot more worried than Dick liked.

“Sore,” Dick admitted before brushing it off. “But it’s not my worst. Two-face hit harder and Slade was better at it.”

Jason didn’t look like he believed him, but wasn’t ready to argue. “Fine, just get better so we can go home okay. Alfred’s been worrying.”

A knock on the door interrupted further discussion. Damien opened the door revealing a young man in a very dapper suit. He was carrying a large covered tray displaying his strength and flexibility as he bent to put it on Chopper’s desk. He was tall with bright blond hair. His face was hidden from Nightwing by a fringe of hair, but Dick’s attention was on the wonderful smell seeping from under the cover.

“Oh!” Jason said, getting to his feet. “That smells amazing, Sanji.” He reached toward the cover, but the young man kicked him back, making the hero fall back into his chair.

“Hands off, you shitty bastard, women and invalids first,” the cook scolded. “I’ve brought enough for all of you.” He pulled off the cover with a flourish, revealing three bowls brimming with thick noodle soup.  “Welcome to the mad house, Nightwing,” he said with a nod. “I’m the ship’s cook, Sanji.”

Since he had only met Chopper, so far, Dick had no expectations for the rest of the Straw-hats, but if he was honest, he was a little disappointed. Sanji looked normal enough. He was a handsome man, with a groomed goatee and styled blond hair that hid one of his eyes. His most striking feature was his curly-cue eyebrow, but other than that he looked kind of normal. Dick scolded himself, he should know better than that. Any hero should know not to judge a person based on their appearance. He should reserve judgment until he got to know the man better. Besides, Sanji was obviously an amazing cook if nothing else.

“Thank you,” Dick replied, forcing himself to sit up a little more. Jason and Damien quickly jumped to help him get settled into a more comfortable position. “I’m grateful for the rescue.”

Sanji shrugged, but he was smiling. “Well, eat up. There is more coming, if my captain didn’t eat it all, so don’t worry about going hungry. I made sure it’s all easily digestible for you. But before I leave you to enjoy my mastery, do you have an allergies or anything I should worry about?”

Dick shook his head. “No, I can eat pretty much anything and have at one time or another. And it smells amazing. It better than I could have imagined back there,” he said, trying to explain how much this meal meant to him without getting into details of his ordeal.

Sanji got an odd look in his eye and he diverted his gaze to stare into the middle distance, his mind a million miles away. None of the heroes knew it, but Sanji was thinking of a rock out in the middle of the ocean where he had once been stranded with a violent old man who would become his mentor. With a jerk, Sanji pulled himself out the memories and nodded. One hand strayed to his pocket where he kept his lighter, but he didn’t pull it out. Chopper would kill him if he lit up in here. “Don’t worry about, just enjoy the food. That’s my job as the ship’s cook, to feed whoever is hungry.”

“Thanks again, Sanji,” Dick said. “It is nice to meet you.”

“Nice to see you awake,” Sanji said. “These bastards were worried about you.” He pointed his cigarette at the two younger heroes who glared at him.

This time there was no knock to warn of another young man bursting in, also caring a tray.

“Sanji!” the boy whined as he came in. “This smells so yummy, why can’t I eat it?” He put the tray down and turned sad eyes on the cook.

Sanji sighed, running a hand through his hair. Then when the new pirate peeked under the lid, slipping his fingers inside, the blond kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room, where he slid down the wall in a heap.  “Your lunch is on the table with the rest of the crew’s. In fact they should be starting about now,” the cook said with a scary smile. “So you should take your time getting to know our guest here so we might have a chance to have a quiet meal for once. Okay, captain?”

The young man pouted, his lower lip hanging unnaturally low. Dick, however, couldn’t be quiet. “Captain?” he asked.

“Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw-hat pirates,” Luffy introduced himself cheerfully, turning to give Nightwing his attention. Sanji took the chance to slip out with a nod. “I’m going to be king of the pirates!” Luffy continued, undaunted by Nightwing’s surprise.

“I know he doesn’t look it,” Jason said as he finished eating his soup, “but he really is the captain and he’s pretty strong too.”

Dick turned to Damien, to get his perspective. “He’s an idiot, but his crew’s loyal to him for some reason. And he agreed to help us rescue you, so he’s not completely intolerable.”

“High praise from you,” Dick said with a smile for his littlest brother. “It’s an honor to meet you, Captain Luffy. Thank you for your help and your hospitality.”

Luffy laughed and climbed up on Dick’s bed to sit at the foot. “Just call me Luffy,” he laughed. “It was fun, like an adventure. And your brothers are really strong, so I like them.” His smile was blinding, if a little disturbing. The only people that grinned that wide, in Nightwing’s experience, were clowns. “Hoody was awesome, he fought the Marine captain even though he had this really cool mystery sword that burned everything it touched and he was good! Not as good a Zoro, of course, but Zoro’s the best. It was so cool. I wish you were better, I bet you’re an even better fighter than them. I could never beat my big brothers.”

“Okay?” Dick agreed, not really following Luffy’s explanation. He looked at his brothers for help, but Jason was laughing and Damien had his habitual glare on.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you fixed up. Sanji has plenty of meat, and Chopper’s the best doctor on the Grand Line. And Traffy should be here soon, so it will all be okay.”

Again Dick agreed, though he wasn’t sure what taffy had to do with his recovery, but he knew this world was strange, so he didn’t want to question it right now. He’d figure it out later.

“Anyway,” Luffy said, getting to his feet and pulling his straw-hat onto his head. “I’m going to go eat now, so you rest up and you can meet everyone else after lunch okay?”

“Of course,” Nightwing promised. “I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of your crew, they sound amazing.”

Luffy lit up at the compliment and quietly, for him, slipped out of the infirmary to get his own dinner.

Damien sighed as the door closed. He moved to help Dick eat; apparently having decided that would be his chore. “So, that is the leader of this circus.”

“So, I’ll fit right in,” Dick said, teasing. He wished he had better use of his hands. He’d love to eat on his own, the food was amazing.

“Honestly, we all fit in,” Jason said. He was investigating the tray that Luffy brought in. The silver dome hid a heaping plate of perfectly fried tempura that went wonderfully with the noodles. The rich variety of vegetables on a seafaring vessel was impressive. “These are amazing,” he said around a mouth full of fried squash as he split the bounty into piles for each of them.  “Anyway, we all fit in fine with this group. Even the demon-spawn.”

“Is that, so?” Dick teased Damien, who huffed and didn’t comment.

Silence reigned for a while as they all ate. The food was even more amazing then it smelled, and not even the need for help kept Dick from eating his fill. It felt so good to be warm and full and safe.

“After we introduce you to the rest of this mad house, we should probably report in,” Jason offered into the silence. “B isn’t known for his patience and everyone’s been worried about you.”

Dick nodded, looking at his bandaged hands to avoid eye contact. He heaved a heavy sigh before admitting what was on his mind. “I’m sorry for worrying you,” he whispered.

Damien put down his bowl hard enough to crack it. “Stop that right now, Grayson!” he hissed at the table as the last of his broth leaked out all over the table. “You are not to apologize for what those bastards did to you. You are not to apologize for getting stuck in another universe. And you are not to apologize for doing your job! That is not the brother, no the Nightwing, I know, so just stop right now!”

“Damien,” Dick said softly, reaching for his brother’s back. “I...”

“He’s right,” Jason interrupted. “None of this is your fault, it’s just bad luck. Honestly, you’re supposed to be the lucky one. How did you end up like this?” He glared at the bedridden hero. “Yes, they’ve all been worried about you, especially that one,” he jerked his head at the frustrated pre-teen, “but that’s just what family does, so just leave it alone.”

Dick considered the two of them for a minute. He was used to being the responsible one, the one who worries and cares. Being on the other side of the coin was not fun, but he understood. He nodded. “Fine. But I will thank you for coming here. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you or home again.”

“Don’t mention it,” Damien growled to hide his discomfort.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Yeah, forget that. Mention it all the time, in fact you owe me big. You have no idea what I’ve been through to get you back. You owe me a new jacket at the very least.”

“Sure, whatever you want, as soon as we get home,” Dick agreed as he laid back. His eyelid felt like lead as he struggled to stay awake, which was almost impossible with a warm, full stomach and his brothers watching over him. 

“Get some rest, Grayson,” Damien said, pulling the blankets back up to his shoulders. “You can meet everyone else after a nap.”

Dick wanted to say something, a joke about how Damien should take a nap too because he was a growing boy, but he was asleep before he could finish the thought.


End file.
